The minstrelsy of the Scottish border

UNIVERSITY or PITTSBURGH
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Uarliiigton JVLeniorial -Library

MINSTRELSY

SCOTTISH BOEDER

VOL, I.

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EDI Tr

MINSTRELSY

COTTISH BORDER:

SIR WALTER SCOTT, Bakt.

HIS INTRODUCTIONS, ADDITIONS, AND THE
EDITOR'S NOTES.

VOLUME L

ROBERT CADELL, EDINBURGH:
HOULSTON & STONEMAN, LONDON.

MDCCCXLIX.

CONTENTS
OF VOLUME FIRST.

PAGE

Advertisement, ...... iii

Dedication, ...... 1

Introductory Remarks on Popular Poetry, . 5

Introduction to Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 93
Appendix.

No. I. 240

No. II. 245

No. III. 256

No. IV. 261

No. V. ...... 265

No. VI. 270

• No. VII. 274

No. VIII 284

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Part I.

Historical Ballads

.

•^ir Patrick Spens, 295

Auld IMaitland,

306

Appendix,

The Battle of Otterbourne,

331
345

Appendix,

Tlie Sang of the Outlaw Murraj

363
369

Jolinie Armstrong,

392

Supplement,
Lord Ewrie,

414
417

The Lochmaben Harper,

422

ADVERTISEMENT.

Two volumes of the Minstrelsy of the Scottish
Border were published in 1802; — a third fol-
lowed in 1803 ; and, in the course of subsequent
editions, the arrangement of the ballads under-
went various changes, and numerous additions
were made to the Notes. Sir Walter Scott drew
up, in March 1830, the " Introductory Remarks
on Popular Poetry," which appear at the head
of the present volume, and an " Essay on Imi-
tations of the Ancient Ballad," which will be
given in the fourth volume of this edition. He
kept by him, as long as his health permitted him
to continue his literary pursuits, an interleaved

ADVERTISEMENT.

copy of the Collection by which his name was
first established, inserting various readings as
chance threw them in his way, and enriching
his annotations with whatever new lights con-
versation or books supplied. The Work is now
printed according to the copy thus finally cor-
rected, with some notes, distinguished by brack-
ets, in which the Editor has endeavoured to
compress such additional information concern-
ing the incidents and localities mentioned in the
Minstrelsy, as he could gather from the private
correspondence of Sir Walter Scott, now in his
hands, or remembered to have dropt from his
lips in the course of his rides among the scenery
of Border warfare.

One of the Reviewers of the Minstrelsy,
when it first appeared, said, " In this collection
are the materials for scores of metrical ro-
mances." This was a prophetic critic. In the
text and notes of tliis early publication, we can
now trace the primary incident, or broad out-

ADVERTISEMENT. ' V

line of almost every romance, whether in verse
or in prose, which Sir Walter Scott built in after
life on the history or traditions of his country.
The Editor has added references by which the
reader will find it easy to compare the original
detached anecdote, or brief sketch of character
in these pages, with the expanded or embel-
lished narratives and delineations of the Au-
thor's greater poems and novels.

The airs of some of these old ballads are for
the first time appended to the present edition.
The selection includes those which Sir Walter
Scott himself liked the best ; and they are
transcribed, without variation, from the MSS.
in his library.

According to Mr Motherwell, the Editor of
" Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern, 1827," the
Old Ballads, which appeared for the first time
in this collection, are forty-three in number,
viz. : Auld Maitland, The Song of the Outlaw
Murray, Lord Eivrie, The Lochmaben Harper,

VI ADVERTISEMENT,

Jamie TeJfer of the fair Dodhead, Kinmont Wil-
lie, The Death of Featherstonehaugh, Bartrame's
Dirge, Archie o' Cd field, Johnny Armstrong s
Good Night, The Lads of Wamphray, The Bat-
tle of Philiphaugh, The Gallant Grahames, The
Battle of Pentland Hill, The Battle of Loudon
Hill, The Battle of Both well Bridge, Erling-
ton, The Douglas Tragedy, Young Bejyie, Proud
Lady Margaret, Sir Hugh Le Blond, Grceme
and Bewick, The I^ament of the Border Widow,
Johnnie of Braidislee, Katharine Janfarie, The
Dowie Dens of Yarrow, The Gay Goss-haivk,
Brown Adam, Jellon Grahame, Willie's Lady,
Clerk Saunders, The Demon Lover, Rose the
Red and White Lilly, Pause Foudrage, Kempion,
The Wife of Usher's Well, King Henry, Prince
Robert, Annan Water, The Cruel Sister, The
Queen's Marie, Jlie Bonny Hind, and TJiomas
the Rhymer.

Mr Motherwell adds — " Fortunate it was for
the heroic and legendary song of Scotland that

ADVERTISEMENT. A'll

the work was undertaken, and still more fortu-
nate that its execution devolved upon one so
well qualified in every respect to do its subject
the most ample justice. Long will it live, a noble
and interesting monument of his unwearied
research, curious and minute learning, genius,
and taste. It is truly a patriot's legacy to pos-
terity ; and much as it may be now esteemed,
it is only in times yet gathering in the bosom
of futurity, when the interesting traditions, the
chivalrous and romantic legends, the wild su-
perstitions, the tragic songs of Scotland, have
wholly failed from the living memory, that this
gift can be duly appreciated. It is then that
these volumes will be conned with feelings akin
to religious enthusiasm, that their strange and
mystic lore will be treasured up in the heart as
the precious record of days for ever passed away
— that their grand stern legends will be listened
to with reverential awe, as if the voice of a re-
mote ancestor from the depths of the tomb, had

VIU ADVERTISEMENT.

woke the thrilling strains of martial antiquity."
— p. Ixxix.

The drawings executed for the illustration of
the present volume, and indeed of all the
volumes of the series which it commences, are
from the hand of Mr Turner, to wliom the sub-
jects were pointed out by Sir Walter Scott,
when that great Artist ^^sited him at Abbots-
ford in the autumn of 1830.

J. G. L.

London, March 12, 1833.

TO
HIS GRACE

WALTER FRANCIS MONTAGU DOUGLAS
SCOTT,

DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH AND
QUEENSBERRY,

&c. &c. &c.

My Lord Duke,
In inscribing these volumes' to your Grace, I
am fortunately emancipated from the necessity
of intruding upon you the commonplace sub-
jects of dedication. Most of these Poems have
been long before the public, and were inscribed,
at the time of their publication, to the various

' [The collective edition of Sir Walter Scott's Poetical

Works. Edin. 1830 Ed.]

VOL. I. A

"1 DEDICATION.

excellent persons nearly connected with your
Grace, whose names they retain. I am, there-
fore, well aware, that these compositions, of little
intrinsic value in themselves, will, like other me-
morials of dear friends who have been removed
from the world, claim some value in your Grace's
estimation, from the names of their former patrons.
May your Grace live long to exercise the
virtues of your predecessors, whose duties you
inherit along with their rank and possessions.
Such is the sincere wish of.

My Lord Duke,
Your Grace's early Friend,

And much obliged humble Servant,

Walter Scott.

Abbotsford, April 3. 1830.

MINSTRELSY

THE SCOTTISH BORDER.

IxNTRODUCTORY REMARKS
POPULAR POETRY.

THE VARIOUS COLLECTIONS OF BALLADS OF BRITAIN,
PARTICULARLY THOSE OF SCOTLAND.

The Introduction originally prefixed to " The
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," was rather
of a historical than a literary nature ; and the re-
marks which follow have been added, to afford the
general reader some information upon the cha-
racter of Ballad Poetry.

It would be throwing away words to prove,
what all must admit, the general taste and pro-
pensity of nations in their early state, to culti-
vate some species of rude poetry. When the

' [These remarks were first appended to the edition of
1830._Ed.]

b INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

organs and faculties of a primitive race have de-
veloped themselves, each for its proper and ne-
cessary use, there is a natural tendency to em-
ploy them in a more refined and regulated man-
ner for purposes of amusement. The savage,
after proving the activity of his limbs in the
chase or the battle, trains them to more mea-
sured movements, to dance at the festivals of his
tribe, or to perform obeisance before the altars
of his deity. From the same impulse, he is dis-
posed to refine the ordinary speech which forms
the vehicle of social communication betwixt him
and his brethren, until, by a more ornate diction,
modulated by certain rules of rhythm, cadence,
assonance of termination, or recurrence of sound
or letter, he obtains a dialect more solemn in
expression, to record the laws or exploits of his
tribe, or more sweet in sound, in which to plead
his own cause to his mistress.

This primeval poetry must have one general
character in all nations, both as to its merits
and its imperfections. The earlier poets have
tiie advantage, and it is not a small one, of

POPULAR POETRY. 7

having the first choice out of the stock of mate-
rials which are proper to the art ; and thus they
compel later authors, if they would avoid slavish-
ly imitating the fathers of verse, into various de-
vices, often more ingenious than elegant, that
they may establish, if not an absolute claim to
originality, at least a visible distinction betwixt
themselves and their predecessors. Thus it hap-
pens, that early poets almost uniformly display a
bold, rude, original cast of genius and expression.
They have walked at free-will, and with uncon-
strained steps, along the wilds of Parnassus,
while their followers move with constrained ges-
tures and forced attitudes, in order to avoid
placing their feet where their predecessors have
stepped before them. The first bard who com-
pared his hero to a lion, struck a bold and con-
genial note, though the simile, in a nation of
hunters, be a very obvious one ; but every sub-
sequent poet who shall use it, must either strug-
gle hard to give his lion, as heralds say, with a
difference^ or lie under the imputation of being a
servile imitator.

8 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

It is not probable that, by any researches of
modern times, we shall ever reach back to an
earlier model of poetry than Homer; but as
there lived heroes before Agamemnon, so, un-
questionably, poets existed before the immortal
Bard who gave the King of kings his fame ; and
he whom all civilized nations now acknowledge
as the Father of Poetry, must have himself
looked back to an ancestry of poetical predeces-
sors, and is only held original because we know
not from whom he copied. Indeed, though much
must be ascribed to the riches of his own indi-
vidual genius, the poetry of Homer argues a de-
gree of perfection in an art which jiractice had
already rendered regular, and concerning which,
his frequent mention of the bards, or chanters of
poetry, indicates plainly that it was studied by
many, and known and admired by all.'

' [Sir Walter Scott, as this paragrapli intiiiiati's, nevor
doubted that the lUad and Odyssey were substantially tiie
works of one and tlic same individual. lie said of the
Wolfian hy])othesis. that it wa-; tiie most hrr/iirioiix one
lie had heard of, and could ncAcr be lu'licxed in liv auv
poet. — Ed.]

POPULAR POETRV.

It is indeed easily discovered, that the quali-
ties necessary for composing such poems are not
the portion of every man in the tribe ; that the
bard, to reach excellence in his art, must possess
something more than a full command of words
and phrases, and the knack of arranging them
in such form as ancient examples have fixed upon
as the recognised structure of national verse.
The tribe speedily become sensible, that besides
this degree of mechanical facility, which (like
making what are called at school nonsense verses)
may be attained by dint of memory and practice,
much higher qualifications are demanded. A
keen and active power of observation, capable of
perceiving at a glance the leading circumstances
from which the incident described derives its cha-
racter; quick and powerful feelings, to enable
the bard to comprehend and delineate those of
the actors in his piece ; and a command of lan-
guage, alternately soft and elevated, and suited
to express the conceptions which he had formed
in his mind, are all necessary to eminence in the
poetical art.

10 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

Above all, to attain the highest point of his
profession, the poet must have that original
power of embodying and detailing circumstances,
which can place before the eyes of others a scene
which only exists in his own imagination. This
last high and creative faculty, namely, that of
impressing the mind of the hearers with scenes
and sentiments having no existence save through
their art, has procured for the bards of Greece
the term of Yloivrng, which, as it singularly hap-
pens, is literally translated by the Scottish epithet
for the same class of persons, whom they termed
the Makers. The French phrase of Trouveurs,
or Troubadours, namely, the Finders, or In-
ventors, has the same reference to the quality of
original conception and invention proper to the
poetical art, and without which it can hardly be
said to exist to any pleasing or useful purpose.

The mere arrangement of words into poetical
rhythm, or combining them according to a tech-
nical ride or measure, is so closely coimected
with the art of music, that an alliance between
these two fine arts is very soon closely formed.

POPULAR POETRY. 11

It is fruitless to enquire which of them has been
first invented, since doubtless the precedence is
accidental; and it signifies little whether the
musician adapts verses to a rude tune, or whether
the primitive poet, in reciting his productions,
falls naturally into a chant or song. With this
additional accomplishment, the poet becomes
aoiSbj, or the man of song, and his character is
complete when the additional accompaniment of
a lute or harp is added to his vocal performance.
Here, therefore, we have the history of early
poetry in all nations. But it is evident that,
though poetry seems a plant proper to almost all
soils, yet not only is it of various kinds, according
to the climate and country in which it has its
origin, but the poetry of different nations diifers
still more widely in the degree of excellence which
it attains. This must depend in some measure,
no doubt, on the temper and manners of the
people, or their proximity to those spirit-stirring
events which are naturally selected as the subject
of poetry, and on the more comprehensive or
energetic character of the language spoken by

12 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

the tribe. But the progress of the art is far
more dependent upon the rise of some highly-
gifted individual, possessing in a preeminent and
uncommon degree the powers demanded, whose
talents influence the taste of a w^hole nation, and
entail on their posterity and language a character
almost indelibly sacred. In this respect Homer
stands alone and unrivalled, as a light from whose
lamp the genius of successive ages, and of distant
nations, has caught fire and illumination ; and
who, though the early poet of a rude age, has
purchased for the era he has celebrated, so mucli
reverence, that, not daring to bestow on it the
term of barbarous, we distinguish it as the heroic
period.

No other poet (sacred and inspired authors
excepted) ever did, or ever will, possess the same
influence over posterity, in so many distant lands,
as has been acquired by the blind old man of
Chios ; yet we are assured that his works, col-
lected by the pious care of Pisistratus, who caused
to be united into their present form those diviiu'
poems, would otherwise, if preserved at all, ha\i'

POPULAR POETRY. 13

appeared to succeeding generations in the humble
state of a collection of detached ballads, connect-
ed only as referring to the same age, the same
general subjects, and the same cycle of heroes,
like the metrical poems of the Cid in Spain, ^ or
of Robin Hood in England.

In other countries, less favoured, either in
language or in picturesque incident, it cannot be
supposed that even the genius of Homer could
have soared to such exclusive eminence, since he
must at once have been deprived of the subjects
and themes so well adapted for his muse, and
of the lofty, melodious, and flexible language in
which he recorded them. Other nations, during
the formation of their ancient poetry, wanted the
genius of Homer, as well as his picturesque
scenery and lofty language. Yet the investiga-
tion of the early poetry of every nation, even

' [The " Poema del Cid"(of which Mr Frere has trans-
lated some specimens) is, however, considered by every
historian of Spanish literature, as the work of one hand ;
and is evidently more ancient than the detached ballads on
the Adventures of the Campeador, which are included in
the Cancioneros. — Ed.]

14 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

the rudest, carries with it an object of curiosity
and interest. It is a chapter in the history of
the childhood of society, and its resemblance to,
or dissimilarity from, the popular rhymes of other
nations in the same stage, must needs illustrate
the ancient history of states ; their slower or swift-
er progress towards civilisation ; their gradual or
more rapid adoption of manners, sentiments, and
religion. The study, therefore, of lays rescued
from the gulf of oblivion, must in every case pos-
sess considerable interest for the moral philoso-
pher and general historian.

The historian of an individual nation is equally
or more deeply interested in the researches into
popular poetry, since he must not disdain to
gather from the tradition conveyed in ancient
ditties and ballads, the information necessary to
confirm or correct intelligence collected from more
certain sources. And although the poets were
a fabling race from the very l)eginning of time,
and so much addicted to exaggeration, that their
accounts are seldom to be relied on without
corroborative evidence, yet instances frequently

POPULAR POETRY. 15

occur where the statements of poetical tradition
are unexpectedly confirmed.

To the lovers and admirers of poetry as an
art, it cannot be uninteresting to have a glimpse
of the National Muse in her cradle, or to hear her
babbling the earliest attempts at the formation
of the tuneful sounds with which she was after-
wards to charm posterity. And I may venture
to add, that among poetry, which, however rude,
was a gift of Nature's first fruits, even a reader
of refined taste will find his patience rewarded,
by passages in which the rude minstrel rises into
sublimity or melts into pathos. These were the
merits which induced the classical Addison^ to
write an elaborate commentary upon the ballad
of Chevy Chase, and which roused, like the
sound of a trumpet, the heroic blood of Sir Philip
Sidney.^

' [See The Spectator, No. 70 and 74.]

- [I never heard the old song of Percie and Douglas,
that I found not my heart moved more than with the sound
of a trumpet ; and yet it is sung but by some blind crowder,
with no rougher voice than rude style Sidney.]

16 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

It is true, that passages of this high character
occur seldom ; for during the infancy of the art
of poetry, the bards have been generally satisfied
with a rude and careless expression of their senti-
ments ; and even when a more felicitous expres-
sion, or loftier numbers, have been dictated by
the enthusiasm of the composition, the advantage
came unsought for, and perhaps unnoticed, either
by the minstrel or thd* audience.

Another cause contributed to the tenuity of
thought and poverty of expression, by which old
ballads are too often distinguished. The appa-
rent simplicity of the ballad stanza carried Mith
it a strong temptation to loose and trivial compo-
sition. The collection of rhymes, accumulated
by the earliest of the craft, appear to have been
considered asforming a joint stock for the common
use of the profession ; and not mere rhymes only,
but verses and stanzas, have l)cen used as common
property, so as to give an appearance of sameness
and crudity to the whole series of popular poetry.
Such, for instance, is the salutation so often re-
peated.

POPULAR POETRY. 17

" Now Heaven thee save, thou brave young knight,
Now Heaven thee save and see."

And such the usual expression for taking counsel

with,

" Rede me, rede me, brother dear,
My rede shall rise at thee."

Such also is the unvaried account of the rose
and the brier, which are said to spring out of the
grave of the hero and heroine of these metrical
legends, with little effort at a variation of the
expressions in which the incident is prescriptively
told. The least acquaintance with the subject
will recall a great number of commonplace verses,
which each ballad-maker has unceremoniously
appropriated to himself; thereby greatly facili-
tating his own task, and at the same time degra-
ding his art by his slovenly use of over-scutched
phrases. From the same indolence, the ballad-
mongers of most nations have availed themselves
of every opportunity of prolonging their pieces,
of the same kind, without the labour of actual
composition. If a message is to be delivered,
the poet saves himself a little trouble, by using

VOL. I. B

18 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

exactly the same words in Avhich it was originally
couched, to secure its being transmitted to the
person for whose ear it was intended. The bards
of ruder climes, and less favoured languages, may
indeed claim the countenance of Homer for such
repetitions ; but whilst, in the Father of Poetry,
they give the reader an opportunity to pause, and
look back upon (lie enchanted ground over which
they have travelled, they afford nothing to the
modern bard, save facilitating the power of stupi-
fying the audience with stanzas of dull and tedious
iteration.

Another cause of the flatness and insipidity,
which is the great imperfection of ballad poetry,
is to be ascribed less to the compositions in their
original state, when rehearsed by their authors,
than to the ignorance and errors of the reciters
or transcribers, by whom they have been trans-
mitted to us. The more popular the compo-
sition of an ancient poet, or Maker, became,
the greater chance there was of its being cor-
rupted ; for a poem transmitted through a num-
ber of reciters, like a book reprinted in a multi-

rOPULAR POETRY. 19

tude of editions, incurs the risk of impertinent
interpolations from the conceit of one rehearser,
unintelligible blunders from the stupidity of an-
other, and omissions equally to be regretted,
from the want of memory in a third. This sort
of injury is felt very early, and the reader will
find a curious instance in the Introduction to
the Romance of Sir Tristrem. Robert de Brunne
there complains, that though the Romance of
Sir Tristrem was the best which had ever been
made, if it could be recited as composed by the
author, Thomas of Erceldoune ; yet that it was
written in such an ornate style of language, and
such a difficult strain of versification, as to lose all
value in the mouths of ordinary minstrels, who
could scarcely repeat one stanza without omitting
some part of it, and marring, consequently, both
the sense and the rhythm of the passage.^ This

' [" That thou may hear in Sir Tristrem :
Over gestes it has the steem,
Over all that is or was,
K men it sayd as made Thomas ;
But I hear it no man so say —
But of some copple some is away," &c.]

20 INTRODUCTOnV REMARKS ON

deterioration could not be limited to one author
alone ; others must have suffered from the same
cause, in the same or a greater degree. Nay,
we are authorized to conclude, that in proportion
to the care bestowed by the author upon any
poem, to attain what his age might suppose to
be the highest graces of poetry, the greater was
the damage which it sustained by the inaccuracy
of reciters, or their desire to humble both the
sense and diction of the poem to their powers of
recollection, and the comprehension of a vulgar
audience. It cannot be expected that composi-
tions subjected in this way to mutilation and
corruption, should continue to present their ori-
ginal sense or diction ; and the accuracy of our
editions of popular poetry, unless in the rare event
of recovering original or early copies, is lessened
in pro])orti()n.

But the chance of these corrujjtions is iiical-
cuhil)ly increasc'd, when we consider tliat the
ballads have been, not in one, but iiiinnner;il)le
instances of transmission, lial)lc' to similar altera-
tions, tinongh a long course of centuries, during

POPULAR POETRY. 21

which they have been handed from one ignorant
reciter to another, each discarding- whatever ori-
ginal words or phrases time or fashion had, in
his opinion, rendered obsolete, and substituting
anachronisms by expressions taken from the cus-
toms of his own day. And here it may be re-
marked, that the desire of the reciter to be intel-
ligible, however natural and laudable, has been
one of the greatest causes of the deterioration of
ancient poetry. The minstrel who endeavoured
to recite with fidelity the words of the author,
might indeed fall into errors of sound and sense,
and substitute corruptions for words he did not
understand. But the ingenuity of a skilful critic
could often, in that case, revive and restore the
original meaning ; while the corrupted words be-
came, in such cases, a warrant for the authenti-
city of the whole poem.^

' An instance occurs in the valuable old ballad, called
Auld Maitland. The reciter repeated a verse, descriptive
of the defence of a castle, thus :

" Witt spring-wall, stanes, and goads of aim
Among them fast he threw."
Spring-wall, is a corruption of sprhigaU, a militarj- engine

22 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

In general, however, the later reciters appear
to have been far less desirous to speak the au-
thor's vi'ords, than to introduce amendments and
new readings of their own, which have always
produced the effect of modernizing, and usually
that of degrading and vulgarizing, the rugged
sense and spirit of the antique minstrel. Thus,
undergoing from age to age a gradual process of
alteration and recomposition, our popular and
oral minstrelsy has lost, in a great measure, its
original appearance ; and the strong touches b}-
which it had been formerly characterised, have
been generally smoothed down and destroyed by
a process similar to that by which a coin, pass-
ing from hand to hand, loses in circulation all
the finer marks of the impress.

The very fine ballad of Chevy Chase is an
example of this degrading species of alchyni)-.
by which the ore of antiquity is deteriorated and
adulterated. While Addison, in an age which
had never attended to j)()pular poetry, wrote his

tor casting darts or stonos ; the restoration of wliich read-
ing gives a precise and clear sense to the lines.

POPULAR POETRY.

classical criticism on that ballad, he naturally
took for his text the ordinary stall-copy, although
he might, and ought to have suspected, that a
ditty couched in the language nearly of his own
time, could not be the same with that which Sir
Philip Sidney, more than one hundred years be-
fore, had spoken of, as being " evil apparelled
in the dust and cobwebs of an uncivilized age."
The venerable Bishop Percy was the first to
correct this mistake, by producing a copy of the
song, as old at least as the reign of Henry VII.,
bearing the name of the author, or transcriber,
Richard Sheale.^ But even the Rev. Editor
himself fell under the mistake of supposing the
modern Chevy Chase to be a new copy of the
original ballad, expressly modernized by some
one later bard. On the contrary, the current
version is now universally allowed to have been
produced by the gradual alterations of numerous
reciters, during two centuries, in the course of
which the ballad has been gradually moulded
into a composition bearing only a general re-
' See Percy's Reliques, vol. i. p. 2.

24 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

semblance to the original — expressing the same
events and sentiments in much smoother lan-
guage, and more flowing and easy versification ;
but losing in poetical fire and energy, and in the
vigour and pithiness of the expression, a great
deal more than it has gained in suavity of dic-
tion. Thus : —

" The Percy owt of Northumberland,

And a vowe to God mayd he,
That he wolde hunte in the mountajTis

Off Cheviot within daj-es thre,
In the mauger of doughty Dougles,

And all that ever with him be,"

Becomes,

" The stout Earl of Northumberland

A vow to God did make.
His pleasure in the Scottish woods

Three summer days to take," &c.

From this, and other examples of the same
kind, of which many might be quoted, we must
often expect to find the remains of Minstrel poetry,
composed originally for the courts of princes and
halls of nobles, disguised in the more modern and
vulgar dialect in which tliey have been of late
sung to the frequL'uters of the rustic ale-l)ench.

POPULAR POETRY. 25

It is unnecessary to mention more than one other
remarkable and. humbling instance, printed in the
curious collection entitled, a Ballad Book, where
we find, in the words of the ingenious Editor,^ a
stupid ballad printed as it was sung in Annan-
dale, founded on the well-known story of the
Prince of Salerno's daughter, but with the un-
couth change of Dysmal for Ghismonda, and
Guiscard transformed into a greasy kitchen-boy.
" To what base uses may we not return ! "
Sometimes a still more material and syste-
matic diiference appears between the poems of
antiquity, as they were originally composed, and
as they now exist. This occurs in cases where
the longer metrical romances, which were in fa-
shion during the middle ages, were reduced to
shorter compositions, in order that they might be
chanted before an inferior audience. A ballad,
for example, of Thomas of Erceldoune, and his
intrigues with the Queen of Faery-Land, is, or

1 [Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq. The Ballad-Book
was printed in 1823, and inscribed to Sir Walter Scott;
the impression consisting of only thirty copies.]

2b INTUODUCTORY REMARKS ON

has been, long current in Teviotdale, and other
parts of Scotland. Two ancient copies of a poem ,
or romance, on the same subject, and containinu"
very often the same words and turns of expres-
sion, are preserved in the libraries of the Cathe-
dral of Lincoln and Peterborough. We are left
to conjecture whether the originals of such hn\-
lads have been gradually contracted into their mo-
dern shape by the impatience of later audiences,
combined with the lack of memory displayed by
more modern reciters, or whether, in particular
cases, some ballad-maker may have actually set
himself to work to retrench the old details of the
minstrels, and regularly and systematically to
modernize, and if the phrase be permitted, to
balladize, a metrical romance. We are assured,
however, that " Roswal and Lilian" was sung
through the streets of Edinl)urgh two genera-
tions since ; and we know that the Romance of
" Sir Eger, Sir Grime, and Sir Greysteil," liad
also its own particular chant, or time, Tlie stall-
copies of both these romances, as they now exist,
are very much abbreviated, and probably exliibit

POPULAR POETRY. 27

them when they were undergoing, or had nearly
undergone, the process of being cut down into
ballads.

Taking into consideration the various indirect
channels by which the popular poetry of our an-
cestors has been transmitted to their posterity, it
is nothing surprising that it should reach us in a
mutilated and degraded state, and that it should
little correspond with the ideas we are apt to form
of the first productions of national genius ; nay,
it is more to be wondered at that we possess so
many ballads of considerable merit, than that the
much greater number of them which must have
once existed, should have perished before our time.

Having given this brief account of ballad poetry
in general, the purpose of the present prefatory
remarks will be accomplished, by shortly noticing
the popular poetry of Scotland, and some of the
efforts which have been made to collect and illus-
trate it.

It is now generally admitted that the Scots
and Picts, however differing otherwise, were each
by descent a Celtic race ; that they advanced in

28 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

a course of victory somewhat farther than the
present frontier between England and Scotland,
and about the end of the eleventh century sub-
dued and rendered tributary the Britons of Strath-
cluyd, who were also a Celtic race like them-
selves. Excepting, therefore, the provinces of
Berwickshire and the Lothians, which were chiefly
inhabited by an Anglo-Saxon population, the
whole of Scotland was peopled by different tribes
of the same aboriginal race,^ — a race passionately
addicted to music, as appears from the kindred
Celtic nations of Irish, Welsh, and Scottish, pre-
serving each to this day a style and character of
music peculiar to their own country, though all

• [The autlior seems to have latterh- modified his original
opinion on some parts of this subject. In his reviewal of
Mr P. F. Tytler's History of Scotland (Quart. Rev. vol.
xli. p. 328), he says, speaking of the period of the final
subjugation of the Picts, " It would appear the Scandina-
vians had colonies along the fertile shores of Moray, and
among the mountains of Sutherland, whose name speaks
for itself, that it was given by tlie Norwegians ; and pro-
bably they had also settlements in Caithness and the Or-
cades." In this essay, however, he adheres iu tlie main
to his Anti-Pinkertonian doctrine, and treats the Picts as
Celts.— Ed.]

POPULAR POETRY. 29

three bear marks of general resemblance to each
other. That of Scotland, in particular, is early
noticed and extolled by ancient authors, and its
remains, to which the natives are passionately
attached, are still found to afford pleasure even
to those who cultivate the art upon a more re-
fined and varied system.

This skill in music did not, of course, exist
without a corresponding degree of talent for a
species of poetry, adapted to the habits of the
country, celebrating the victories of triumphant
clans, pouring forth lamentations over fallen he-
roes, and recording such marvellous adventures
as were calculated to amuse individual families
around their household fires, or the whole tribe
when regaling in the hall of the chief. It hap-
pened, however, singularly enough, that while
the music continued to be Celtic in its general
measure, the language of Scotland, most com-
monly spoken, began to be that of their neigh-
bours the English, introduced by the multitude
of Saxons who thronged to the court of Malcolm
Canmore and his successors ; by the crowds of

30 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

prisoners of war, whom the repeated ravages of
the Scots in Northumberland carried off as slaves
to their country ; by the influence of the inhabit-
ants of the richest and most populous provinces
in Scotland, Berwickshire, namely, and the Lo-
thians, over the more movmtainous ; lastly, by
the superiority which a language like the Anglo-
Saxon, considerably refined, long since reduced
to writing, and capable of expressing the wants,
wishes, and sentiments of the speakers, must
have possessed over the jargon of various tribes
of Irish and British origin, limited and contracted
in every varying dialect, and differing, at the same
time, from each other. This superiority being
considered, and a fair length of time being allow-
ed, it is no wonder that, while the Scottish people
retained their Celtic music, and many of their
Celtic customs, together with their Celtic dy-
nasty, they should nevertheless ha^■e adopted,
throughout the Lowlands, the Saxon language,
while in the Highlands they retained the Celtir
dialect, along with the dress, arms, manners. :ind
government of their fathers.

POPULAR POETRY. 31

There was, for a time, a solemn national recog-
nisance that the Saxon language and poetry had
not originally been that of the royal family. For
at the coronations of the kings of Scotland, pre-
vious to Alexander III., it was a part of the so-
lemnity, that a Celtic bard stepped forth, so soon
as the king assumed his seat upon the fated stone,
and recited the genealogy of the monarch in Cel-
tic verse, setting forth his descent, and the right
which he had by birth to occupy the place of
sovereignty. For a time, no doubt, the Celtic
songs and poems remained current in the Low-
lands, while any remnant of the language yet
lasted. The Gaelic or Irish bards, we are also
aware, occasionally strolled into the Lowlands,
where their music might be received with favour,
even after their recitation was no longer under-
stood. But though these aboriginal poets showed
themselves at festivals and other places of public
resort, it does not appear that, as in Homer's
time, they were honoured with high places at the
board, and savoury morsels of the chine ; but they
seem rather to have been accounted fit company

32 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS O.N

for the feigned fools and sturdy beggars, with
whom they were ranked by a Scottish statute.^

Time was necessary wholly to eradicate one
language and introduce another ; but it is remark-
able that, at the death of Alexander the Third,
the last Scottish king of the pure Celtic race, the
popular lament for his death was composed in
Scoto-English, and, though closely resembling
the modern dialect, is the earliest example we
have of that language, whether in prose or poetry/
About the same time flourished the celebrated
Thomas the Rhymer, whose poem, written in
English, or Lowland Scottish, with the most an-
xious attention both to versification and allitera-
tion, forms, even as it now exists, a very curious
specimen of the early romance.' Such compli-

' A curious account of the reception of an Irish or Celtic
bard at a festival, is given in Sir John Holland's Buke of
the Houlat, Bauiiati/nc edition, p. liii.

2 [" Whan Alexander our king Avas ded,
Wha Scotland led in hive and lee,
Away was sons of ale and bred.

Of wine and wax, of game and glee," &c.]

' [See a subsequent volume of iliis collection.]

1

POPULAR POETRY. 33

cated construction was greatly too concise for the
public ear, which is best amused by a looser dic-
tion, in which numerous repetitions, and pro-
longed descriptions, enable the comprehension of
the audience to keep up with the voice of the
singer or reciter, and supply the gaps which in
general must have taken place, either through a
failure of attention in the hearers, or of voice and
distinct enunciation on the part of the minstrel.
The usual stanza which was selected as the
most natural to the language and the sweetest
to the ear, after the complex system of the more
courtly measures, used by Thomas of Erceldoune,
was laid aside, was that which, when originally
introduced, we very often find arranged in two
lines, thus : — ^

" Earl Douglas on his milk-wliite steed, most like a baron

bold,
Rode foremost of his company, whose armour shone like

gold;"

but which, after being divided into four, consti-
tutes what is now generally called the ballad
stanza, —

34

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

'• Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,

Most like a baron bold,
Rode foremost of his company,

Whose armour shone like gold."

The breaking of the lines contains a plainer
intimation, how the stanza ought to be read, than
every one could gather from the original mode
of writing out the poem, where the position of the
CEesura, or inflection of voice, is left to the indi-
vidual's own taste. This was sometimes ex-
changed for a stanza of six lines, the third and
sixth rhyming together. For works of more im-
portance and pretension, a more complicated ver-
sification was still retained, and may be found in
the tale of Ralph Coilzear,^ the Adventures of
Arthur at the Tarn-Wathelyn, Sir Gawain, and
Sir Gologras, and other scarce romances. A spe-
cimen of this structure of verse has been handed
down to our times in the stanza of Christ Kirk
on the Green, transmitted by King James I., to

' [This, and most of tlie otlier romances here referred to,
maybe found reprinted in a volume entitled, " Select Ke-
mains of the Ancient Popular Poetry of Scotland," (Ediii.
1822. Small 4to.) Edited by Mr David Laing, and in-
scribed to Sir Walter Scott.]

POPULAR POETRY.

Allan Ramsay and to Burns. The excessive
passion for alliteration, which formed a rule of
the Saxon poetry, was also retained in the Scot-
tish poems of a more elevated character, though
the more ordinary minstrels and ballad-makers
threw off the restraint.

The varieties of stanza thus adopted for popu-
lar poetry were not, we may easily suppose, left
long unemployed. In frontier regions, where men
are continually engaged in active enterprise, be-
twixt the task of defending themselves and an-
noying their neighbours, they may be said to live
in an atmosphere of danger, the excitation of
which is peculiarly favourable to the encourage-
ment of poetry. Hence, the expressions of Lesly
the historian, quoted in the following Introduc-
tion, in which he paints the delight taken by
the Borderers in their peculiar species of music,
and the rhyming ballads in which they cele-
brated the feats of their ancestors, or recorded
their own ingenious stratagems in predatory war-
fare. In the same Introduction, the reader will
find the reasons alleged why the taste for song

Sit . INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

was and must have been longer preserved on the
Border than in the interior of the country.

Having thus made some remarks on early-
poetry in general, and on that of Scotland in
particular, the Editor's purpose is, to mention the
fate of some previous attempts to collect ballad
poetry, and the principles of selection and publi-
cation which have been adopted by various edi-
tors of learning and information ; and although
the present work chiefly regards the Ballads of
Scotland, yet the investigation must necessarily
include some of the principal collections among
the EngUsh also.

Of manuscript records of ancient ballads, very
few have been yet discovered. It is probable
that the minstrels, seldom knowing either how
to read or write, trusted to their well-exercised
memories. Nor was it a difficult task to acquire
a sufficient stock in trade for their purpose, since
the Editor has not only known many persons
capable of retaining a very large collection of
legendary lore of this kind, but there was a
period in his own life, when a memory that ought

POPULAR POETRY. 37

to have been charged with more valuable matter,
enabled him to recollect as many of these old
songs as would have occupied several days in the
recitation.

The press, however, at length superseded the
necessity of such exertions of recollection, and
sheafs of ballads issued from it weekly, for the
amusement of the sojourners at the alehouse,
and the lovers of poetry in grange and hall,
where such of the audience as could not read, had
at least read unto them. These fugitive leaves,
generally printed upon broadsides, or in small mis-
cellanies called Garlands, and circulating amongst
persons of loose and careless habits — so far as
books were concerned — were subject to destruc-
tion from many causes ; and as the editions in
the early age of printing were probably much
limited, even those published as chap-books in
the early part of the 18th century, are rarely
met with.

Some persons, however, seem to have had
what their contemporaries probably thought the
bizarre taste of gathering and preserving coUec-

38 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

tions of this fugitive poetry. Hence the great
body of ballads in the Pepysian collection at
Cambridge, made by that Secretary Pepys, whose
Diary is so very amusing ; and hence the still
more valuable deposit, in three volumes folio, in
which the late Duke John of Roxburghe took so
much pleasure, that he was often found enlarging
it with fresh acquisitions, which he pasted in and
registered with his own hand.

The first attempt, however, to reprint a col-
lection of ballads for a class of readers distinct
from those for whose use the stall-copies were
intended, was that of an anonymous editor of
three 1 2mo volumes, which appeared in London,,
with engravings. These volumes came out in
various years, in the beginning of the 18th cen-
tury.^ The editor writes with some flippancy,

> [" A Collection of Old Ballads, collected from the best,
and most ancient Copies extant, with Introductions, His-
torical and Critical, illustrated with copperplates." This
anonymous collection, first published in 17"23, was so well
received, that it soon passed to a second edition, and two
more volumes were added in 1723 and 1725. The tliird
edition of the first volume is dated 1727. — Eu.]

POPULAR POETRY. 39|

but with the air of a person superior to the ordi-
nary drudgery of a mere collector. His work
appears to have been got up at considerable ex-
pense, and the general introductions and histori-
cal illustrations which are prefixed to the various
ballads, are written with an accuracy of which
such a subject had not till then been deemed
worthy. The principal part of the collection
consists of stall-ballads, neither possessing much
poetical merit, nor any particular rarity or curio-
sity. Still this original Miscellany holds a consi-
derable value amongst collectors ; and as the three
volumes — being published at diiferent times — are
seldom found together, they sell for a high price
when complete.

We may now turn our eyes to Scotland, where
the facility of the dialect, which cuts off the con-
sonants in the termination of the words, so as
greatly to simplify the task of rhyming, and the
habits, dispositions, and manners of the people,
were of old so favourable to the composition of
ballad-poetry, that, had the Scottish songs been

40 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS OS

preserved, there is no doubt a very curious his-
tory might have been composed by means of
minstrelsy only, from the reign of Alexander III.
in 1285, down to the close of the Civil Wars in
1745. That materials for such a collection ex-
isted, cannot be disputed, since the Scottish his-
torians often refer to old ballads as authorities
for general tradition. But their regular preser-
vation was not to be hoped for or expected. Suc-
cessive garlands of song sprung, flourished, faded,
and were forgotten, in their turn ; and the names
of a few specimens are only preserved, to show
us how abundant the display of these wild flowers
had been.

Like the natural free gifts of Flora, these poe-
tical garlands can only be successfully sought for
where the land is uncultivated ; and civilisation
and increase of learning are sure to banish them,
as the plough of the agriculturist bears down the
mountain daisy. Yet it is to be recorded with
some interest, that the earliest surviving speci-
men of the Scottish press, is a Miscellany of Mil-

POPULAR POETRY. 41

lar and Chapman,^ which preserves a consider-
able fund of Scottish popular poetry, and among-
other things, no bad specimen of the gests of Ro-
bin Hood,-" the English ballad-maker's joy," and
whose renown seems to have been as freshly pre-
served in the north as on the southern shores of
the Tweed. There were probably several col-
lections of Scottish ballads and metrical pieces
during the seventeenth century. A very fine one,
belonging to Lord Montagu, perished in the
fire which consumed Ditton House, about twenty
years ago.

James Watson, in 1706, published, at Edin-
burgh, a miscellaneous collection in three parts,
containing some ancient poetry. But the first
editor who seems to have made a determined
effort to preserve our ancient popular poetry, was

' [A facsimile reprint, in black-letter, of the Original
Tracts which issued from the press of Walter Chepman
and Andro MyUar at Edinburgh, in the year 1508, was
published under the title of " The Knightly Tale of Gola-
grus and Gawane, and other Ancient Poems," in 1827,
4to. The " htil geste" of Robin Hood, referred to in the
text, is a fragment of a piece contained in Ritson's Col-
lection Ed.]

42 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

the M^ell-known Allan Ramsay, in his Everg-reen,
containing chiefly extracts from the ancient Scot-
tish Makers, whose poems have been preserved
in the Bannatyne Manuscript, but exhibiting
amongst them some popular ballads. Amongst
these is the Battle of Harlaw, apparently from a
modernized copy, being probably the most an-
cient Scottish historical ballad of any length now
in existence.^ He also inserted in the same col-
lection, the genuine Scottish Border ballad of

' That there was such an ancient ballad is certain, and
the tune, adapted to the bagpipes, was long extremely po-
pular, and, within the remembrance of man, the first which
was played at kirns and other rustic festivals. B\it there
is a suspicious phrase in the ballad as it is published by
Allan Ramsay. When describing the national confusion,
the bard says,

" Sen the days of auld King Harie,
Such slauchter was not heard or seen."

Query, who was the " auld King Harie" here meant? If
Henry VIII. be intended, as is most likely, it must bring
the date of tlie poem, at least of that verse, as low iis
Queen jNIary's tiuic. Tb.e ballad is said to have been
l)riiit('<l in lG(jS. A copy (if that edition would be a great
curiosity.

[See the preface to tlie reprint of this ballad, in a volume
of " Early MctricalTales." \lmo, Edin. 1S2G.— Ed.]

POPULAR POETRY. 43*"

Johnnie Armstrong, copied from the recitation of
a descendant of the unfortunate hero, in the sixth
generation. This poet also inckided in the Ever-
green, Hardyknute, which, though evidently
modern, is a most spirited and beautiful imita-
tion of the ancient ballad. In a subsequent col-
lection of lyrical pieces, called the Tea- Table
Miscellany, Allan Ramsay inserted several old
ballads, such as Cruel Barbara Allan, The Bon-
nie Earl of Murray, There came a Ghost to Mar-
cjaret^s door, and two or three others. But his
unhappy plan of writing new words to old tunes,
without at the same time preserving the ancient
verses, led him, with the assistance of " some
ingenious young gentlemen," to throw aside
many originals, the preservation of which would
have been much more interesting than any thing
which has been substituted in their stead. ^

1 Green be the pillow of honest Allan, at whose lamp
Burns lighted his brilliant torch ! It is without enmity to
his memory that we record his mistalce in this matter. But
it is impossible not to regret that such an affecting tale
as that of Bessie Bell and Mary Gray should have fallen
into his hands. The southern reader must learn, (for what

44 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

In fine, the task of collecting and illustrating
ancient popular poetry, whether in England or
Scotland, was never executed by a competent
person, possessing the necessary powers of selec-
tion and annotation, till it was undertaken by Dr
Percy, afterwards Bishop of Dromore in Ireland.

northern reader is ignorant?) that these two beautiful
women were kinsfolk, and so strictly united in fricndsliip,
that even personal jealousy could not interrupt their
union. They were visited by a handsome and agreeable
young man, who was acceptable to them both, but so cap-
tivated with their charms, that, while confident of a pre-
ference on the part of both, he was unable to make a choice
between them. While this singular situation of the three
persons of tlie tale continued, the breaking out of the plague
forced the two ladies to take refuge in the beautiful valley
of Lynedoch, where they built themselves a bower, in
order to avoid human intercourse and tlie danger of infec-
tion. The lover Avas not included in their renunciation of
society. He visited their retirement, brought Mith him
the fatid disease, and unable to return to Perth, which was
his usual residence, was nursed by the fair friends with all
the tenderness of affection. He died, however, having
first communicated the infection to his lovely attendants.
Thev followed liim to the grave, lovely in their lives, and
undivided in their death. Their burial place, in the vicinity
of the bower which (liey built, is still visilile. in tlie roman-
tic vicinity of Lord Lyndoch's nuuij-ion, and prolongs the

POPULAR POETRY. 45

This reverend gentleman, himself a poet, and
ranldng high among the literati of the day, com-

memory of female friendship, which even rivalry could not
dissolve. Two stanzas of the original ballad alone survive :

" Bessie Bell and Mary Gray,

They were twa bonnie lasses ;
They bigged a bower on yon burn-brae,

And theekit it ower wi' rashes.

* « * *

They wadna rest in IMethvin kirk.

Among their gentle kin ;
But they wad lie in Lednoch braes.

To beek against the sun."

There is, to a Scottish ear, so much tenderness and sim-
plicity in these verses, as must induce us to regret that the
rest should have been superseded by a pedantic modern
song, turning upon the most unpoetic part of the legend,
the hesitation, namely, of the lover, which of the ladies to
prefer. One of the most touching expressions in the song
is the following exclamation :

" Oh, Jove ! she's like thy Pallas."
Another song, of which Ramsay chose a few words for
the theme of a rifaciviento, seems to have been a curious
specimen of minstrel recitation. It was partly verse, partly
narrative, and was alternately sung and repeated. The
story was the escape of a young gentleman, pursued by a
cruel uncle, desirous of his estate ; or a bloody rival, greedy
of his life ; or the relentless father of his lady-love, or some
such remorseless character, having sinister intentions on

46 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

manding access to the individuals and institutions
which could best aftbrd him materials, gave the

the person of the fugitive. The oliject of his rapacitj- or
vengeance being nearly overtaken, a sheplierd undertakes
to mislead the pursuer, who comes in sight just as the ob-
ject of his pursuit disappears, and greets the sliepherd
tluis :—

" PURSUER,

Good morrow, shepherd, and my friend.
Saw you a young man this way riding ;

"With long black hair, on a bob-tail'd mare,
And I know that I cannot be far behind him ?

THE SHEPHERD.

Yes, I did see him this way riding,

And what did much surprise my wit.
The man and the mare flew up in the air,

And I see, and I see, and I see her yet.
Behind yon white cloud I see her tail wave.

And I see, and I see, and I see her yet."

The tunc of these verses is an extremch- good one, and
Allan Ramsay has adopted a bacchanalian song to it with
some success ; but we should have thanked him much had
he taken the trouble to preserve the original legend of the
old minstrel. The valuable and learned friend' to whom
•we owe this mutilated account of it, has often heard it sung
among the High Jinks of Scottish lawyers of the last gene-
ration.

' [The Right Honourable William Adam, Lord Chief Commis-
sioner of the Scotcli Jury Court. — Ed.]

POPULAR POETRY. 47

public the result of his researches in a work en-
titled " Reliques of Ancient English Poetry,"
in three volumes, published in London 1765,
which has since gone through four editions. ^
The taste with which the materials were chosen,
the extreme felicity with which they were illus-
trated, the display at once of antiquarian know-
ledge and classical reading which the collection
indicated, render it difficult to imitate, and im-
possible to excel a work, which must always be
held among the first of its class in point of merit,
though not actually the foremost in point of time.
But neither the high character of the work, nor
the rank and respectability of the author, could
protect him or his labours, from the invidious
attacks of criticism.

The most formidable of these were directed by
Joseph Ritson, a man of acute observation, pro-
found research, and great labour. These valu-
able attributes were unhappily combined with an

' [Sir Walter Scott corresponded frequently with the
Bishop of Dromore, at the time when he was collecting
the materials of the " Border Minstrelsy." — Ed.]

48 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

eager irritability of temper, which induced him
to treat antiquarian trifles with the same serious-
ness which men of the world reserve for matters
of importance, and disposed him to drive contro-
versies into personal quarrels, by neglecting, in
literary debate, the courtesies of ordinary society.^
It ought to be said, however, by one who knew
him well, that this irritability of disposition was
a constitutional and physical infirmity ; and that
Ritson's extreme attachment to the severity of

^ For example, in quoting a popular song, well known
by the name of Maggie Lauder, the editor of the Reliques
had given a line of the Dame's address to the merry min-
strel, thus :

" Gin ye be Rob, I've heard of you,
You dwell upon tbe Border."

Ritson insisted the genuine reading was,

' ' Come ye frae the Border ? "

And he expatiates with great keenness on the crime of the
Bishop's having sopliisticated the text, (of which he pro-
duces no evidence,) to favour his opinion, that tlie Borders
were a favourite abode of the minstrels of both kingdoms.
The fact, it is believed, is undoubted, and the one reading
seems to support it as well as the other — [Joseph Ritson
died in 1803.]

POPULAR POETRY. 49

truth, corresponded to the rigour of his criti-
cisms upon the labours of others. He seems to
have attacked Bishop Percy with the greater
animosity, as bearing no good-will to the hier-
archy, in which that prelate held a distinguished
place.

Ritson's criticism, in which there was too much
horse-play, was grounded on two points of accu-
sation. The first regarded Dr Percy's definition
of the order and office of minstrels, which Ritson
considered as designedly overcharged, for the
sake of giving an undue importance to his sub-
ject. The second objection respected the liber-
ties which Dr Percy had taken with his mate-
rials, in adding to, retrenching, and improving
them, so as to bring them nearer to the taste of
his own period. We will take some brief notice
of both topics.

First, Dr Percy, in the first edition of his work,
certainly laid himself open to the charge of having
given an inaccurate, and somewhat exaggerated
account, of the English Minstrels, whom he de-
fined to be an " order of men in the middle ages^

VOL. I. D

50 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

who subsisted by the arts of poetry and music,
and sung to the harp the verses which they them-
selves composed." The reverend editor of the
Reliques produced in support of this definition
many curious quotations, to show that in many
instances the persons of these minstrels had been
honoured and respected, their performances ap-
plauded and rewarded by the great and the court-
ly, and their craft imitated by princes themselves.

Against both these propositions, Ritson made
a determined opposition. He contended, and
probably with justice, that the minstrels were not
necessarily poets, or in the regular habit of com-
posing the verses which they sung to the harp ;
and indeed, that the word minstrel, in its ordinary
acceptation, meant no more than musician.

Dr Percy, from an amended edition of his
Essay on Minstrelsy, prefixed to the fourth edi-
tion of the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, seems to
have been, to a certain point, convinced by tlie
critic's reasoning ; for he has extended the defi-
nition impugned by Ritson, and the minstrels
are thus described as singing verses '* composed
by themselves or others." This we a})j)rehen(l to

POPULAR POETRY. 51

be a tenable position ; for, as on the one hand it
seems too broad an averment to say that all min-
strels were by profession poets, so on the other,
it is extravagant to affirm that men who were
constantly in the habit of reciting verse, should
not frequently have acquired that of composing
it, especially when their bread depended on giving
pleasure ; and to have the power of producing
novelty, is a great step towards that desirable
end. No unprejudiced reader, therefore, can have
any hesitation in adopting Bishop Percy's defi-
nition of the minstrels, and their occupation, as
qualified in the fourth edition of his Essay, im-
plying that they were sometimes poets, sometimes
the mere reciters of the poetry of others.

On the critic's second proposition, Dr Percy
successfully showed, that at no period of history-
was the word minstrel applied to instrumental
music exclusively ; and he has produced suffi-
cient evidence, that the talents of the professioa
were as frequently employed in chanting or reci-
ting poetry as in playing the mere tunes. There
is appearance of distinction being sometimes made

52 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

between minstrel recitations and minstrelsy of
music alone ; and we may add a curious instance,
to those quoted by the Bishop. It is from the
singular ballad respecting Thomas of Erccl-
doune,^ which announces the proposition, that
tongue is chief of minstrelsy.

We may also notice, that the M'ord minstrel
being in fact derived from the ^Nlinnc-singer of the
Germans, means, in its primary sense, one who
sings of love, a sense totally inapplicable to a mere
instrumental musician.

A second general point on Mliich Dr Percy
was fiercely attacked by Mr Kitson, was also one
on which both the parties might claim a right to
sing Te De7un. It respected the rank or status
which was held by the minstrels in society during
the middle ages. On this point the editor of the
Rcliques of Ancient Poetry had jiroduced the
most satisfactory evidence, that, at the courts of
the Anglo-Norman princes tlie professors of the
gay science were tlie favourite solacers of tlic

' Sck'ct Ri-niaiiis of l\ipular Pieces of Poetry. Kiliu-
biirrrh, 1822.

POPULAR POETRY. 53

leisure hours of princes, who did not themselves
disdain to share their tuneful labours, and imitate
their compositions. Mr Ritson replied to this
with great ingenuity, arguing, that such instances
of respect paid to French minstrels reciting in
their native language in the court of Norman mo-
narchs, though held in Britain, argued nothing
in favour of English artists professing the same
trade ; and of whose compositions, and not of those
existing in the French language, Dr Percy pro-
fessed to form his collection. The reason of the dis-
tinction betwLxt the respectability of the French
minstrels, and the degradation of the same class
of men in England, Mr Ritson plausibly alleged
to be, that the EngKsh language, a mixed speech
betwixt Anglo-Saxon and Norman-French, was
not known at the court of the Anglo-Norman
kings until the reign of Edward III ;^ and that,

' That monarch first used the vernacular English dialect
in a motto which he displayed on his shield at a celebrated
tournament. The legend which graced the representation
of a white swan on the king's buckler, ran thus :—

*' Ha ! La ! the whyte swan !
Bj' Goddis soule 1 am thy man."

54 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

therefore, until a very late period, and when the
lays of minstrelsy were going out of fashion, Eng-
lish performers in that capacity must have con-
fined the exercise of their talents to the amuse-
ment of the vulgar. Now, as it must be conce-
ded to Mr Ritson, that almost all the Enghsh
metrical romances which have been preserved till
the present day, are translated from the French,
it may also be allowed, that a class of men em-
ployed chiefly in rendering into English the works
of others, could not hold so high a station as those
•who aspired to original composition ; and so far
the critic has the best of the dispute. But Mr
Ritson has over-driven his argument, since there
■was assuredly a period in English history, when
the national minstrels, writing in the national
dialect, were, in proportion to their merit in their
calling, held in honour and respect.

Thomas the Rhymer, for example, a minstrel
who flourished in the end of the twelfth century,
was not only a man of talent in his art, lint of
some rank in society ; tlie companion of nobles,
and himself a man of landed property. He, and

POPULAR POETRV. 55

his contemporary Kendal, wrote, as we are as-
sured by Robert de Brunne, in a passage already
alluded to, a kind of English, which was de-
signed for " pride and nobleye," ^ and not for
such inferior persons as Robert himself addressed,
and to whose comprehension he avowedly lower-
ed his language and structure of versification.
There existed, therefore, during the time of this
historian, a more refined dialect of the English
language, used by such composers of popular
poetry as moved in a higher circle ; and there
can be no doubt, that while their productions
were held in such high esteem, the authors must
have been honoured in proportion.

The education bestowed upon James I. of

^ [The learned editor of Warton's History of English
Poetry, is of opinion that Sir Walter Scott misinterpreted
the passage referred to. De Brunne, according to this au-
thor's text, says of the elder reciters of the metrical romance,

" They said it for pride and nobleye,
That non were soulk as they ;"

i. e. they recited it in a style so lofty and noble, that none
have since equalled them. — Warton, edit. 1824, vol. i. p.
183._Ed.]

56 INTRODUCTOIU" REMARKS ON

Scotland, ^vlien brought up under the charge of
Henry IV., comprehended both music and the
art of vernacular poetry ; in other words. Min-
strelsy in both branches. That poetry, of which
the King left several specimens, was, as is well
known, English ; nor is it to be supposed that
a prince, upon whose education such sedulous
care was bestowed, would have been instructed
in an art which, if we are to believe Mr Ritson,
was degraded to the last degree, and discredit-
able to its professors. The same argument is
strengthened by the poetical exercises of the
Duke of Orleans, in English, written during his
captivity after the battle of Agincourt.^ It could
not be supposed that the noble prisoner was to
solace his hours of imprisonment with a degra-
ding and vulgar species of composition.

We could produce other instances to show that
this acute critic has carried his argument consi-
derably too far. But Ave prefer taking a general
view of the subject, Avhich seems to exjilain clearly

' Sec the edition priiiteil In Mr Watson Taylor, for the
Roxburshe Club.

POPULAR POETRY. 57

how contradictory evidence should exist on it, and
why instances of great personal respect to indivi-
dual minstrels, and a high esteem of the art, are
quite reconcilable with much contempt thrown
on the order at large.

All professors of the fine arts — all those who
contribute, not to the necessities of life, but to
the enjoyments of society, hold their professional
respectability by the severe tenure of exhibiting
excellence in their department. We are well
enough satisfied with the tradesman who goes
through his task in a workmanlike manner, nor
are we disposed to look down upon the divine,
the lawyer, or the physician, unless they cUsplay
gross ignorance of their profession : we hold it
enough, that if they do not possess the highest
knowledge of their respective sciences, they can
at least instruct us on the points we desire to
know. But

" mediocribus esse poetis

Non di, non homines, non concessere columnse."

The same is true respecting the professors of

58 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

painting, of sculpture, of music, and the fine
arts in general. If they exhibit paramount ex-
cellence, no situation in society is too high for
them which their manners enable them to fill ; if
they fall short of the highest point of aim, they
degenerate into sign-painters, stone-cutters, com-
mon crowders, doggrel rhymers, and so forth,
the most contemptible of mankind. The reason
of this is evident. Men must be satisfied with
such a supply of their actual wants as can be ob-
tained in the circumstances, and should an indi-
vidual want a coat, he must employ the village
tailor, if Stultze is not to be had. But if he
seeks for delight, the case is quite different ; and
he that cannot hear Pasta or Sontag, would be
little solaced for the absence of these sirens,
by the strains of a crack-voiced ballad-singer.
Nay, on the contrary, the offer of such inade-
quate compensation, would only be regarded as
an insult, and resented accordingly.

The theatre affords the most appropriate ex-
ample of what we mean. The first circles in
society are open to persons eminently distin-

POPULAR POETRY. 59

guished in the drama ; and their rewards are, in
proportion to those who profess the useful arts,
incalculably higher. But those who lag in the
rear of the dramatic art, are proportionally poorer
and more degraded than those who are the low-
est of a useful trade or profession. These instan-
ces will enable us readily to explain why the
greater part of the minstrels, practising their
profession in scenes of vulgar mirth and de-
bauchery, humbling their art to please the ears
of drunken clowns, and living with the dissipa-
tion natural to men whose precarious subsistence
is, according to the ordinary phrase, from hand
to mouth only, should fall under general con-
tempt, while the stars of the profession, to use a
modern phrase, looked down on them from the
distant empyrean, as the planets do upon those
shooting exhalations arising from gross vapours
in the nether atmosphere.

The debate, therefore, resembles the apologue
of the gold and silver shield. Dr Percy looked
on the minstrel in the palmy and exalted state
to which, no doubt, many w ere elevated by their

60 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

talents, like those who possess excellence in the
fine arts in the present clay ; and Ritson consi-
dered the reverse of the medal, when the poor
and wandering glee-man was glad to purchase
his bread by singing his ballads at the alehouse,
wearing a fantastic habit, and latterly sinking
into a mere crowder upon an untuned fiddle, ac-
companying his rude strains with a ruder ditt},
the helpless associate of drunken revellers, and
marvellously afraid of the constable and parish-
beadle.^ The difference betwixt those holding

' In Fletcher's comedy of" Monsieur Tliomas," sucli a
fiddler is questioned us to the ballads he is best versed in,
and replies,

" Under your inastersliip's correction, I can sing,

* The Duke of Norfolk,' or the merry ballad

Of ' Dlvius and Lazarus ;' ' The Rose of England ; '
' In Crete, where Dedimus first began ; '

* Jonas his crying out against Coventry.'

Thomas. Excellent !
Rare matters all.

Fiddler. ' Mawdlin the ^Merchant's Daughter ; '

* The Devil and ye Dainty Dames.'

Thomas. Rare still.

Fiddler. ' The Landing of the Spaniards at Bow,
With the bloody battle at iMile-cnd."'

POPULAR POETRY. 61

the extreme positions of highest and lowest in
such a profession, cannot surely be more marked
than that which separated David Garrick or John
Kemble from the outcasts of a strolling company,,
exposed to penury, indigence, and persecution
according to law.^

The poor minstrel is described as accompanying the young
rake in his revels. Launcelot describes

" The gentlemaa himself, young Monsieur Thomas,

Errant with his furious myrmidons ;

The fiery fiddler and myself — now singing,

Now beating at the doors," &c.

' [The " Song of the Traveller," an ancient piece lately-
discovered in the Cathedral Library of Exeter, and pub-
lished by the Rev. Mr Coneybeare, in his Illustrations of
Anglo-Saxon Poetry (1826), furnishes a most curious pic-
ture of the life of the Northern Scald, or Minstrel, in the
high and palmy state of the profession. The reverend edi-
tor thus translates the closing hues :

" Ille est carissimus Terrse incolis

Cui Deus addidit Hominum imperiura gerendum,

Quum ille eos [bardos] habeat caros.

Ita comeantes cum cantilcnis feruntur

Bardi hominum per terras multas ;

Simul eos remuneratur ob cantilenas pulchras,

JVLuneribus immensis, ille qui ante nobiles

Vult judicium suum extollere, dignitatem sustinere.

Habet ille sub coelo stabilem famam." — P. 22.

62 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

There was still another and more important
subject of debate, between Dr Percy and his hos-
tile critic. The former, as a poet and a man of
taste, was tempted to take such freedoms with his
original ballads, as might enal)le him to please a
more critical age than that in which they were

Mr Coneybeare contrasts this " flattering picture" with the
following " melancholy specimen" of the Minstrel life of
later times — contained in some verses by Richard Sheale
(the alleged author of the old Chevy Chase), wliich are
preserved in one of the Ashmolean MSS.

" Now for tlie good cheere that I have had here,

I give you hearty thanks with bowing of my shankes.

Desiring you by petition to grant me such commission —

Because my name is Sheale, that both for meat and mealc,

To you I may resort sum tyme for my comforte.

For I perceive here at all tymes is goode cheere.

Both ale, wyne, and beere, as hyt doth now appere,

I perceive without fable ye keepe a good table.

I can be contente, if hyt be out of Lent,

A piece of beefe to take my hongor to aslake,

Both mutton and veale is goode for Rycharde Sheale ;

Though I looke so grave, I were a veri knave.

If I wold thinko skorne ether cvenynge or morne,

Beyng in honger, of frosshe samon or kongar,

I can fynde in my hearte, with my frendis to take a parte

Of such as Godde shal scnde, and thus I make an ende.

Now farewel, good myn Iloste, I thank youe for youre coste,

Uutyl another tyme, and thus do I ende my ryme." — P. 28.]

POPULAR POETRV. 63

composed. Words were thus altered, phrases im-
proved, and whole verses were inserted or omitted
at pleasure. Such freedoms were especially taken
with the poems published from a folio manu-
script in Dr Percy's own possession, very curious
from the miscellaneous nature of its contents,
but unfortunately having many of the leaves mu-
tilated, and injured in other respects, by the gross
carelessness and ignorance of the transcriber.
Anxious to avail himself of the treasures which
this manuscript contained, the editor of the Re-
liques did not hesitate to repair and renovate the
songs which he drew from this corrupted yet cu-
rious source, and to accommodate them with such
emendations as might recommend them to the
modern taste.

For these liberties with his subject, R^tson cen-
sured Dr Percy in the most uncompromising terms,
accused him, in violent language, of interpolation
and forgery, and insinuated that there existed no
such thing in rerum natura as that folio manu-
script, so often referred to as the authority of ori-
ginals inserted in the Reliques. In tliis charge.

64 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

the eagerness of Ritson again betrayed him far-
ther than judgment and discretion, as Mell as
courtesy, warranted. It is no doubt highly de-
sirable that the text of ancient poetry should be
given untouched and vmcorrupted. But this is
a point which did not occur to the ecUtor of the
lleliques in 1765, whose object it was to win the
fiivour of the public, at a period when the great
difficulty was not how to secure the very words of
old ballads, but how to arrest attention upon the
subject at all. That great and important service
to national literature would probably never have
been attained without the work of Dr Percy ; a
work which first fixed the consideration of gene-
ral readers on ancient poetry, and made it worth
while to enquire how far its graces were really
antique, or how far derived from the taste with
which the publication had been superintended
and revised. The object of Dr Percy was cer-
tainly intimated in several parts of his work, wliere
he ingenuously acknowledges, that certain ballads'
have received emendations, and that others are
not of pure and uinnixcd antiquity; that the be-
1

POPULAR POETRY. 65

ginning of some and end of others have been
supplied; and upon the whole, that he has, in
many instances, decorated the ancient ballads
with the graces of a more refined period.

This system is so distinctly intimated, that if
there be any critic still of opinion, like poor Rit-
son, whose morbid temperament led him to such
a conclusion, that the crime of literary imitation
is equal to that of commercial forgery, he ought
to recollect that guilt, in the latter case, does not
exist without a corresponding charge of uttering
the forged document, or causing it to be uttered,
as genuine, without which the mere imitation is
not culpable, at least not criminally so. This
quality is totally awanting in the accusation so
roughly brought against Dr Percy, who avow-
edly indulged in such alterations and improve-
ments upon his materials, as might adapt them to
the taste of an age not otherwise disposed to be-
stow its attention on them.

We have to add, that, in the fourth edition of
the Reliques, Mr Thomas Percy of St John's

VOL. I. E

66 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

College, Oxford, pleading the cause of his uncle
with the most gentlemanlike moderation, and
with every respect to Mr Ritson's science and
talents, has combated the critic's opinion, without
any attempt to retort his injurious language.

It would be now, no doubt, desirable to have
had some more distinct account of Dr Percy's
folio manuscript and its contents ; and Mr Tho-
mas Percy, accordingly, gives the original of the
Marriage of Sir Gawain, and collates it ■«ith the
copy published in a complete state by his uncle,
who has on this occasion given entire rein to his
own fancy, though the rude origin of most of his
ideas is to be found in the old ballad. There is
also given a copy of that elegant metrical tale,
" The Child of Elle," as it exists in the folio
manuscript, which goes far to show it has derived
all its beauties from Dr Percy's poetical powers.
Judging from these two specimens, we can easily
conceive why the Reverend Editor of the " Rc-
liques" should have declined, by the production of
the folio manuscript, to furnish his severe Aris-
tarch with weapons ao;ainst him, which he was

POPULAR POETRY. 67

sure would be unsparingly used. Yet it is cer-
tain, the manuscript contains much that is really
excellent, though mutilated and sophisticated. A
copy of the fine ballad of " Sir Caulin" is found
in a Scottish shape, under the name of " King
Malcolm and Sir Colvin," in Buchan's North
Country Ballads, to be presently mentioned. It
is, therefore, unquestionably ancient, though pos-
sibly retouched, and perhaps with the addition of
a second part, of which the Scottish copy has no
vestiges. It would be desirable to know exactly
to what extent Dr Percy had used the license
of an editor, in these and other cases ; and cer-
tainly, at this period, would be only a degree of
justice due to his memory.

On the whole, we may dismiss the " Reliques
of Ancient Poetry" with the praise and censure
conferred on it by a gentleman, himself a valuable
labourer in the vineyard of antiquities. " It is
the most elegant compilation of the early poetry
that has ever appeared in any age or country.
But it must be frankly added, that so numerous
are the alterations and corrections, that the severet

68 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

antiquary, who desires to see the old English bal-
lads in a genuine state, must consult a more ac-
curate edition than this celebrated work."^

Of Ritson's own talents as an editor of ancient
poetry, we shall have occasion to speak hereafter.
The first collector who followed the example of
Dr Percy, was Mr T. Evans, bookseller, father
of the gentleman we have just quoted. His " Old
Ballads, historical and narrative, with some of
modern date," appeared in two volumes, in 1777,
and were eminently successful. In 1 784, a second
edition appeared, extending the work to four vo-
lumes. In this collection, many ballads found
acceptance, which Bishop Percy had not consider-
ed as possessing sufficient merit to claim admit-
tance into the Reliques. The 8vo Miscellany
of 1723 yielded a great part of the materials.
The collection of Evans contained several modern
pieces of great merit, which are not to be found
elsewhere, and which are understood to be the
productions of William Julius Mickle, translator

' Introductiou to Evaiib's Ballads, ISIO. New edition,
enlarged, &c.

POPULAR POETRY. 69

of the Lusiad, though they were never claimed
by him, nor received among his works. Amongst
them is the elegiac poem of Cumnor Hall, which
suggested the fictitious narrative entitled Kenil-
worth. The Red-Cross Knight, also by Mic-
kle, which has furnished words for a beautiful
glee, first occurred in the same collection. As
Mickle, with a vein of great facility, united a
power of verbal melody which might have been
envied by bards of much greater renown,^ he must

* In evidence of what is above stated, the author would
quote the introductory stanza to a forgotten poem of Mickle,
originally published under the injudicious and equivocal
title of " The Concubine," but in subsequent editions call-
ed, " Sir Martyn, or The Progress of Dissipation."

" Awake, ye west winds, through the lonely dale,

And, Fancy, to thy faery bower betake ;
Even now, with balmy sweetness breathes the gale.

Dimpling with downy wing the stilly lake ;
Through the pale willows faltering whispers wake,

And evening comes with locks bedropp'd with dew ;
On Desmond's mouldering turrets slowly shake

The wither'd ryegrass, and the hairbell blue,
And ever and anon sweet Mulla's plaints renew."

Mickle's facility of versification was so great, that, beinfr
a printer by profession, he frequently put his lines into

70 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

be considered as very successful in these efforts,,
if the ballads be regarded as avowedly modern.
If they are to be judged of as accurate imitations
of ancient poetry, they have less merit ; the de-
ception being only maintained by a huge store of
double consonants, strewed at random into ordi-
nary words, resembling the real fashion of anti-
quity as little as the niches, turrets, and tracery of
plaster stuck upon a modern front. In the year
1810, the four volumes of 1784 were republished
by Mr R. H. Evans, the son of the original editor,
with very considerable alterations and additions.
In this last edition, the more ordinary modern
ballads were judiciously retrenched in number,
and large and valuable additions made to the an-
cient part of the collection. Being in some mea-
sure a supplement to the Keliques of Ancient
Poetry, this miscellany cannot be dispensed with
on theshelvesofanybihlioniaiiiacwho ni;iy choose

types -without taking the trouble previously to put them
into writing; thus uniting tlie comi)osition of tlie author
■with the mechanical operation wliith typograpliers c:il[ by
the same name.

POPULAR POETRY. 71"

to emulate Captain Cox of Coventry, the proto-
type of all collectors of popular poetry.

While Dr Percy was setting the example of a
classical publication of ancient English poetry,
the late David Herd was, in modest retirement,
compiling a collection of Scottish Songs, which
he has happUy described as " the poetry and
music of the heart." The first part of his Mis-
cellany contains heroic and historical ballads, of
which there is a respectable and well-chosen se-
lection. Mr Herd,^ an accountant, as the pro-
fession is called in Edinburgh, was known and
generally esteemed for his shrewd, manly com-
mon sense and antiquarian science, mixed with
much good-nature and great modesty. His hardy
and antique mould of countenance, and his vene-
rable grizzled locks, procured him, amongst his

1 [David Herd was a native of St Cjtus, in Kincardine-
shire, and though often termed a writer, he was only a clerk
in the office of Mr David Russell, accountant in Edinburgh.
He died, aged 78, in 1810, and left a very curious library,
which was dispersed by auction. Herd by no means merit-
ed the character, given him by Pinkerton, of " an illiterate
and injudicious compiler." — Ed.]

72 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

acquaintance, the name of Graystell. His ori-
ginal collection of songs, in one volume, appear-
ed in 1 769 ; an enlarged one, in two volumes, came
out in 1776. A publication of the same kind,
being Herd's book still more enlarged, was print-
ed for Lawrie and Symington in 1791. Some
modern additions occur in this later work, of
which by far the most valuable were two line
imitations of the Scottish ballad, by the gifted
author of the " Man of Feeling," — (now, alas !
no more,) — called " Duncan" and " Kenneth."
John Pinkerton, a man of considerable learn-
ing, and some severity as well as acuteness of
disposition, was now endeavouring to force him-
self into pul)lic attention ; and his collection of
Select Ballads, London, 1783, contains sufficient
evidence that he understood, in an extensive
sense, Horace's maxim, quidlihet audcndi. As he
was possessed of considerable jiowers of poetr}',
though not equal to m hat he was willing to take
credit for, he was resolved to enrich his collec-
tion with all the novelty and interest which it
could derive from a liberal insertion of pieces

POPULAR POETPvY. 73

dressed in the garb of antiquity, but equipped
from the wardrobe of the editor's imagination.
With a boldness, suggested perhaps by the suc-
cess of Mr Macpherson, he included, within a
collection amounting to only twenty-one tragic
ballads, no less than five, of which he afterwards
owned himself to have been altogether, or in
great part, the author. The most remarkable
article in this Miscellany was, a second part to
the noble ballad of Hardyknute, which has some
good verses. It labours, however, under this
great defect, that, in order to append his own
conclusion to the original tale, Mr Pinkerton
found himself under the necessity of altering a
leading circumstance in the old ballad, which
would have rendered his catastrophe inapplicable.
With such license, to write continuations and
conclusions would be no difficult task. In the
second volume of the Select Ballads, consisting
of comic pieces, a list of fifty-two articles con-
tained nine written entirely by the editor him-
self. Of the manner in which these supposi-
titious compositions are executed, it may be

74 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

briefly stated, that they are the work of a scho-
lar much better acquainted with ancient books
and manuscripts, than with oral tradition and po-
pular legends. The poetry smells of the lamp ;
and it may be truly said, that if ever a ballad
had existed in such quaint language as the author
employs, it could never have been so popular as
to be preserved by oral tradition. The glossary
displays a much greater acquaintance with learn-
ed lexicons, than with the familiar dialect still
spoken by the Lowland Scottish, and it is, of
course, full of errors.^ Neither was Mr Pinker-
ton more happy in the way of conjectural illus-
tration. He chose to fix on Sir John Bruce of
Kinross, the paternity of the ballad of Hardy-
knute, and of the fine poem called the Vision.
The first is due to Mrs Halket of Wardlaw, the
second to Allan Ramsay, although, it must bo
owned, it is of a character superior to his ordi-

' lianders, for example, a word generally applied to tlu>
men, on a harvest field, who bind the sheaves, is derivcti
from han, to curse, and explained to mean, "blustering,
swearing fellows."

POPULAR POETRY. 75^

nary poetry. Sir John Bruce was a brave, blunt
soldier, who made no pretence whatever to litera-
ture, though his daughter, Mrs Bruce of Arnot,
had much talent, a circumstance which may per-
haps have misled the antiquary.

Mr Pinkerton read a sort of recantation, in a
List of Scottish Poets, prefixed to a Selection
of Poems from the Maitland Manuscript, vol. i.
1786, in which he acknowledges, as his own
composition, the pieces of spurious antiquity in-
cluded in his " Select Ballads," with a coolness
which, when his subsequent invectives against
others who had taken similar liberties is consi-
dered, infers as much audacity as the studied and
laboured defence of obscenity with which he
disgraced the same pages.

In the meantime, Joseph Ritson, a man of
diligence and acumen equal to those of Pinker-
ton, but of the most laudable accuracy and fide-
lity as an editor, was engaged in various publi-
cations respecting poetical antiquities, in which
he employed profound research. A select col-
lection of English Songs was compiled by him.

76 INTRODUCTORV REMARKS OX

with great care and considerable taste, and pub-
lished at London, 1783. A new edition of this
has appeared since Ritson's death, sanctioned by
the name of the learned and indefatigable anti-
quary, Thomas Park, and augmented with many
original pieces, and some which Ritson had pre-
pared for publication.

Ritson's Collection of Songs was followed by
a curious volume, entitled, " Ancient Songs
from the time of Henry III. to the Revolution,"
1790 ; " Pieces of Ancient Popular Poetry,"
1792 ; and " A collection of Scottish Songs,
with the genuine music," London, 1794. This
last is a genuine, but rather meagre collection of
Caledonian popular songs. Next year Mr Rit-
son published " Rol)in Hood," 2 vols., 1795,
being " A Collection of all the Ancient Poems,
Songs, and Ballads now extant, relative to that
celelirated Outlaw." This work is a notal)le
illustration of the excellences and defects of Mr
Ritson's system. It is almost impossible to con-
ceive so much zeal, research, and industry be-
stowed on a subject of antiquity. There scarcely

POPULAR POETRY. 77

occurs a phrase or word relating- to Robin Hood,
Avhether in history or poetry, in law books, in
ancient proverbs, or common parlance, but it is
here collected and explained. At the same time,
the extreme fidelity of the editor seems driven to
excess, when we find him pertinaciously retain-
ing all the numerous and gross errors which re-
peated recitations have introduced into the text,
and regarding it as a sacred duty to prefer the
worst to the better readings, as if their inferiority
was a security for their being genuine. In short,
when Ritson copied from rare books, or ancient
manuscripts, there could not be a more accurate
editor ; when taking his authority from oral tra-
dition, and judging between two recited copies,
he was apt to consider the worst as most genuine,
as if a poem was not more likely to be dete-
riorated than improved by passing through the
mouths of many reciters. In the Ballads of
Robin Hood, this superstitious scrupulosity was
especially to be regretted, as it tended to enlarge
the collection with a great number of doggerel
compositions, which are all copies of each other.

78 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

turning on the same idea of Bold Robin meetino;
with a shepherd, a tinker, a mendicant, a tanner,
&e. &;c., by each and eJI of whom he is sound!}"
thrashed, and all of whom he receives into his
band. The tradition, which avers that it was
the brave outlaw's custom to try a bout at quar-
ter-staff with his young recruits, might indeed
have authorized one or two such tales, but the
greater part ought to have been rejected as mo-
dern imitations of the most paltry kind, compo-
sed probably about the age of James I. of Eng-
land. By adopting this spurious trash as part
of Robin Hood's history, he is represented as
the best cudgelled hero, Don Quixote excepted,
that ever was celebrated in prose or rhyme.
Ritson also pul)lished several garlands of North
Country songs.

Looking on this eminent antiquary's labours
in a general point of view, we may deprecate the
eagerness and severity of his prejudices, and feel
surprise that he should have shown so much
irritability of disposition on such a topic as a
collection of old ballads, which certauily have

POPULAR POETRY. 79

little in them to affect the passions ; and we may-
be sometimes provoked at the pertinacity with
which he has preferred bad readings to good.
But while industry, research, and antiquarian
learning, are recommendations to works of this
nature, few editors will ever be found so compe-
tent to the task as Joseph Ritson. It must also
be added to his praise, that although not will-
ing to yield his opinion rashly, yet if he saw
reason to believe that he had been mistaken in
any fact or argument, he resigned his own opi-
nion with a candour equal to the w^armth with
which he defended himself while confident he was
in the right. Many of his works are now almost
out of print, and an edition of them in common
orthography, and altering the bizarre spelling
and character which his prejudices induced the
author to adopt, would be, to antiquaries, an ac-
ceptable present.

We have now given a hasty account of various
collections of popular poetry during the eigh-
teenth century ; we have only further to observe,
that, in the present century, this species of lore

80 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

has been sedulously cultivated. The present Col-
lection first appeared in 1802, in two volumes :
and what may appear a singular coincidence, it
was the first work printed by Mr James Ballan-
tyne, (then residing at Kelso,) as it was the first
serious demand which the present author made
on the patience of the public. The Border Min-
strelsy, augmented by a third volume, came to a
second edition in 1803. In 1803, Mr John
Grahame Dalzell, to whom his country is obliged
for his antiquarian labours, published " Scottish
Poems of the Sixteenth Century," which, among
other subjects of interest, contains a curious con-
temporary ballad of Belrinnes, which has some
stjmzas of considerable merit, ^

The year 180G was distinguished by the ap-
pearance of " Popular Ballads and Songs, from

' The first opening of the hallad lias nuicli of the inarti;U
strain witli wliich a pihroch conniieiices. Propcrat in mc-
dias res — according to the classic;d admonition.

" JIacCallanmore came from the west

With many a bow and brand ;
To waste the Riniu's he thous^ht it best,

The Earl of Iluntlj's land."

1

POPULAR POETRY. 81

Traditions, Manuscripts, and Scarce Editions,
with Translations of Similar Pieces from the
Ancient Danish Language, and a few Originals
by the Editor, Robert Jamieson, A.M., and
r.A.S."^ This work, which was not greeted by
the public with the attention it deserved, opened
a new discovery respecting the original source of

' [After the completion of the Border Minstrelsy, and
nearly three years previous to the pubhcation of his own
Collection, Mr Jamieson printed in the Scots Magazine,
(October 1803,) a List oi desiderata in Scottish Song. His
communication to the Editor of that work contains the
following paragraph : — ' ' I am now writing out for the press
a Collection of popular Ballads and Songs from tradition,
MSS., and scarce pubhcations, with a few of modern date,
which have been written for, and are exclusively dedicated
to my collection. As many of the pieces were common pro-
perty, I have heretofore waited for the completion of Mr
Walter Scott's Work, with more anxiety for the cause in
general, than for any particular and selfish interest of my
own; as I was sure of having the satisfaction of seeing such
pieces as that gentleman might choose to adopt, appear with
every advantage which I, partial as I was, could wish them.
The most sanguine expectations of the pubhc have now
been amply gratified ; and much curious and valuable matter
is still left for me by Mr Scott, to whom I am much indebted
for many acts of friendship, and much liberality and good
will shown towards me and my undertaking." — Ed.]
VOL. I. F

82 INTRODUCTORY REMAKKS ON

the Scottish ballads. Mr Jamieson's extensive
acquaintance with the Scandina^-ian literature,
enabled him to detect not only a general simila-
rity betwixt these and the Danish ballads preser-
ved in the " Kiempe Viser," an early collection
of heroic ballads in that language, but to demon-
strate that, in many cases, the stories and songs
were distinctly the same, a circumstance which no
antiquary had hitherto so much as suspected. jNlr
Jamieson's annotations are also very valuable,
and preserve some curious illustrations of the old
poets. His imitations, though he is not entirely
free from the affectation of using rather too many
obsolete words, are generally highly interesting.
The work fills an important place in the collec-
tions of those who arc addicted to this branch of
antiquarian study.

Mr John Finlay, a poet whose career Mas cut
short by a premature death,' published a short

' [Mr I'iiilay, best known by bis " Wiillacc, or Tlio Vale
of EUcrslie," died in 1810, in bis twonty-dgbtb }i-ar. An
affectionate and oloirant tril>uto to bis memory from tlio pen
of Professor Wilson appeared in Blackwood's I\Iagazin«',
November, 1817 Ed.]

POPULAR POETRY. 83

collection of " Scottish Historical and Romantic
Ballads," in 1808. The beauty of some imita-
tions of the old Scotish ballad, with the good
sense, learning, and modesty of the preliminary
dissertations, must make all admirers of ancient
lore regret the early loss of this accomplished
young man.

Various valuable collections of ancient ballad-
poetry have appeared of late years, some of which
are illustrated with learning and acuteness, as
those of Mr Motherwell^ and of Mr Kinloch"
intimate much taste and feeling for this species
of literature. Kor is there any want of editions
of ballads, less designed for public sale, than to
preserve floating pieces of minstrelsy which are
in immediate danger of perishing. Several of

' [Minstrelsy ; Ancient and Modern, with an Historical
Introduction and Notes. By William Motherwell. 4to.
Glasg. 1827.]

^ [Ancient Scottish Ballads, recovered from Tradition,
and never before pubhshed ; with Notes, Historical and
Explanatory, and an Appendix, containing the Airs of
several of the ballads. 8vo. Edin. 1827.]

84 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

those, edited, as we have occasion to know, by
men of distinguished talent, have appeared in a
smaller form and more limited edition, and must
soon be among the introuvahles of Scottish typo-
graphy. We would particularize a duodecimo,
under the modest title of a " Ballad Book," with-
out place or date annexed, which indicates, by a
few notes only, the capacity which the editor
possesses for supplying the most extensive and
ingenious illustrations upon antiquarian subjects.
Most of the ballads are of a comic character, and
some of them admirable specimens of Scottish
dry humour. ^ Another collection which calls for
particular distinction, is in the same size, or nearly
so, and bears the same title with the preceding
one, the date being, Edinburgh, 1827. But the
contents are announced as containing the budget,
or stock-in-trade, of an old Aberdeenshire min-
strel, the very last, probably, of the race, who,
according to Percy's definition of the profession,

» [This is Mr C. K. Sharpc's Work, alrcaiiy alluded
to.— Eu.]

POPULAR POETRY. 85

sung his own compositions, and those of others,
through the capital of the county, and other
towns in that country of gentlemen. This man's
name was Charles Leslie, but he was known
more generally by the nickname of Mussel-mou'd
Charlie, from a singular projection of his under
lip. His death was thus announced in the news-
papers for October, 1792 : — " Died at Old Rain,
in Aberdeenshire, aged one hundred and four
years, Charles Leslie, a hawker, or ballad-singer,
well known in that country by the name of Mus-
sel-mou'd Charlie. He followed his occupation
till within a few weeks of his death." CharHe was
a devoted Jacobite, and so popular in Aberdeen,
that he enjoyed in that city a sort of monopoly
of the minstrel calling, no other person being
allowed, under any pretence, to chant ballads on.
the causeway, or plain-stanes, of " the brave
burgh." Like the former collection, most of
Mussel-mou'd Charlie's songs were of a jocose
character.

But the most extensive and valuable additions
which have been of late made to this branch of

Ob INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

ancient literature, are the collections of Mr Peter
Buchan of Peterhead, a person of indefatigable
research in that department, and whose industry-
has been crowned with the most successful re-
sults. This is partly owing to the country where
Mr Buchan resides, which, full as it is of min-
strel relics, has been but little ransacked by any
former collectors ; so that, while it is a very rare
event south of the Tay, to recover any ballad
having a claim to antiquity, which has not been
examined and republished in some one or other of
our collections of ancient poetry, those of Aber-
deenshire have been comparatively little attended
to. The present Editor was the first to solicit
attention to these northern songs, in consequence
of a collection of ballads communicated to liim
by his late respected friend. Lord Woodliouslee.
Mr Jamieson, in his collections of " Songs and
Ballads," being himself a native of INIorayshire,
was able to push this enquiry much farther, and
at the sanu' time, by doing so, to illustrate his
theory of the connexion between the ancient
Scottish and Danish ballads, upon which the pub-

POPULAR POETRY. 87

lication of Mr Buchan throws much light. It is,
indeed, the most complete collection of the kind
which has yet appeared.^

Of the originality of the ballads in Mr Buchan's
collection we do not entertain the slightest doubt.
Several (we may instance the curious tale of
" The Two Magicians") are translated from the
Norse, and Mr Buchan is probably unacquaint-
ed with the originals. Others refer to points of
history, with which the editor does not seem to
be familiar. It is out of no disrespect to this
laborious and useful antiquary, that we observe
his prose composition is rather florid, and forms,
in this respect, a strong contrast to the extreme
simplicity of the ballads, which gives us the most
distinct assurance that he has delivered the latter
to the public in the shape in which he found
them. Accordingly, we have never seen any col-
lection of Scottish poetry appearing, from internal
evidence, so decidedly and indubitably original.

> [ Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland,
hitherto unpublished ; with explanatory Notes. By P. B.
2 vols. 8vo. Edin. 1828.]

b» INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

It is perhaps a pity that Mr Buchan did not re-
move some obvious errors and corruptions ; but,
in truth, though their remaining on record is an
injury to the effect of the ballads, in point of
composition, it is, in some degree, a proof of their
authenticity. Besides, although the exertion of
this editorial privilege, of selecting readings, is
an advantage to the ballads themselves, we are
contented rather to take the whole in their pre-
sent, though imperfect state, than that the least
doubt should be thrown upon them, by amend-
ments or alterations, which might render their
authenticity doubtful. The historical poems, we
observe, are few and of no remote date. That
of the " Bridge of Dee," is among the oldest,
and there are others referring to the times of the
Covenanters. Some, indeed, are composed on
still more recent events ; as the marriage of the
mother of the late illustrious Byron, ^ and a catas-
trophe of still later occurrence, " The Death of
Leith-hall."

' [This song is quoted in Moore's Life of Byron, vol.
i Ed.]

POPULAR POETRY. 89

As we wish to interest the admirers of ancient
minstrel lore in this curious collection, we shall
only add, that, on occasion of a new edition, we
would recommend to Mr Buchan to leave out a
number of songs which he has only inserted be-
cause they are varied, sometimes for the worse,
from sets which have appeared in other pubHca-
tions. This restriction would make considerable
room for such as, old though they be, possess to
this age all the grace of novelty.

To these notices of late collections of Scottish
Ballads, we ought to add some remarks on the
very curious " Ancient Legendary Tales, print-
ed chiefly from Original Sources, edited by the
Rev. Charles Henry Hartshorne, M.A. 1829."
The editor of this unostentatious work has done
his duty to the public with much labour and care,
and made the admirers of this species of poetry
acquainted with very many ancient legendary
poems, which were hitherto unpublished and very
Httle known. It increases the value of the col-
lection, that many of them are of a comic turn.

90 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON

a species of composition more rare, and, from its
necessary allusion to domestic manners, more
curious and interesting, than the serious class of
Romances.

We have thus, in a cursory manner, gone
through the history of English and Scottish po-
pular poetry, and noticed the principal collections
which have been formed from time to time of
such compositions, and the principles on which
the editors have proceeded. It is manifest that,
of late, the public attention has been so much
tm-ned to the subject by men of research and
talent, that we may well hope to retrieve from
oblivion as much of our ancient poetry as there
is now any possibility of recovering.

Another important part of our task consists in
giving some account of the modern imitation of
the English Ballad, a species of literary labour

POPULAR POETRY. 91

wliicli the author has himself pursued with some
success. Our remarks on this species of compo-
sition are prefixed to the fourth volume of the
present edition.

Abbotsford,

1st March, 1830.

MINSTRELSY

SCOTTISH BORDER :

COKSISTING OP

HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC BALLADS,

COLLECTED

IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND ; WITH A FEW

OF MODERN DATE, FOUNDED UPON

LOCAL TRADITION.

The songs, to savage virtue dear.
That won of yore the public ear.
Ere polity, sedate and sage,
Had quench'd the fires of feudal rage.

Warton.

HIS GRACE

HENRY,

DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH, &c. &c. &c.

WHICH

IN ELDER TIMES HAVE CELEBRATED THE PROWESS,

AND CHEERED THE HALLS,

OF

HIS GALLANT ANCESTORS,

ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY HIS grace's much OBLIGED

MOST HUMBLE SERVANT,

WALTER SCOTT.^

[• Edinburgli, 1802.]

INTRODUCTION.

[Edin. 1802.]
From the remote period, when the Roman Pro-
vince was contracted by the ramparts of Severus,
until the union of the Kingdoms, the Borders of
Scotland formed the stage, upon which were
presented the most memorable conflicts of two
gallant nations. The inhabitants, at the com-
mencement of this era, formed the first wave of
the torrent, which assaulted, and finally over-
whelmed, the barriers of the Roman power in
Britain. The subsequent events, in which they
were engaged, tended little to diminish their mi-
litary hardihood, or to reconcile them to a more
ci\'ilized state of society. We have no occasion
to trace the state of the Borders during the long
and obscure period of Scottish history, which

VOL. I. G

y» INTRODUCTION.

preceded the accession of the Stuart family. To

illustrate a few ballads, the earliest of which is

hardly coeval with James V., such an enquiry

would be equally difficult and vain. If we may

trust the Welsh bards, in their account of
570

the wars betwixt the Saxons and Danes of

Deira and the Cumraig, imagination can hard!}-
form any idea of conflicts more desperate, than
were maintained, on the Borders, between the an-
cient British and their Teutonic invaders. Thus,
the Gododin^ describes the waste and devastation
of mutual havoc, in colours so glowing, as strong-
ly to recall the words of Tacitus ; " £^ uhi solitu-
dinem faciunt^ pacem appellant.'''

At a later period, the Saxon families who fled
from the exterminating sword of the Conqueror,

■ In the spirited translation of this poem, by Jones, tlic
followini; verses are highly descriptive of the exhausted
state of the victor army : —

At INIadoc's tent the clarion sounds,

With rapid clangour hurried far :
Each echoina; dell the note resounds —

But whcu return the sons of war !
Thou, born of stern Necessity,
Dull Peace ! the desert yields to thee,

And owns thy melancholy sway.

INTRODUCTION, 99

with many of the Normans themselves, whom dis-
content and intestine feuds had driven into exile,
began to rise into eminence upon the Scottish
Borders. They brought with them arts, both of
peace and of war, unknown in Scotland ; and,
among their descendants, we soon number the
most powerful Border chiefs. Such, during the
reign of the last Alexander, were Patrick Earl

of March, and Lord Soulis, renowned in tra-

1249
dition ; and such were also the powerful Co-

myns, who early acquired the principal sway upon

the Scottish Marches. In the civil wars be-

1300
twixt Bruce and Baliol, all those powerM

chieftains espoused the unsuccessful party. They
were forfeited and exiled ; and upon their ruins
was founded the formidable house of Douglas.
The Borders, from sea to sea, were now at the
devotion of a succession of mighty chiefs, whose
exorbitant power threatened to place a new dy-
nasty upon the Scottish throne. It is not ray
intention to trace the dazzling career of this race
of heroes, whose exploits were alike formidable
to the English and to their own sovereign.

The sun of Douglas set in blood. The mur-
ders of the sLxth Earl, and his brother, in the

100 INTRODUCTION.

Castle of Edinburgh, were followed by that of
their successor poniarded at Stirling by the hand
of his prince. His brother, Earl James, appears
neither to have possessed the abilities nor the am-
bition of his ancestors. He drew, indeed, against
his Sovereign, the formidable sword of Douglas,
but with a timid and hesitating hand. Procrasti-
nation ruined his cause ; and he was deserted, at
Abercorn, by the Knight of Cadyow, chief of
the Hamiltons, and by his most active adherents,
after they had ineffectually exhorted him to com-
mit his fate to the issue of a battle. The
Border chiefs, who longed for independence,
showed little inclination to follow the declining
fortunes of Douglas. On the contrary, the
most powerful class engaged and defeated
him at Arkinholme, in Annandale, when, after a
short residence in England, he again endeavoured
to gain a footing in his native country.^ The

' At the battle of Arkinholme. tlie Karl of Angus, a
near kinsman of Douglas, commanded the rojal forces ;
and the difference of their complexion occasioned the say-
ing, " that the Black Boiiglax had put down the lied."
The Maxwells, the Johnstones, and the Scotts, composed
his army. Archibald, Karl of Murray, brother to Douglas,
was slain in the action ; and Hugh, Earl of Urmond, his

INTRODUCTION. 101

spoils of Douglas were liberally distributed among-
his conquerors, and royal grants of his forfeited

second brother, was taken and executed. His captors.
Lord Carlisle, and the Baron of Johnstone, were rewarded
with a grant of the lands of Pittinane, upon Clyde. — Gods-
croft, vol. i. p. 375. — Balfour's MS. in the Advocates'
Library, Edinburgh. — Abercrombie's Achievements, vol.
ii. p. 36\, folio edition. — The other chiefs were also dis-
tinguished by royal favour. By a charter, upon record,
dated 25th February, 1348, the king grants to Walter Scott
of Kirkurd, ancestor of the house of Buccleuch, the lands
o£ Abingtown, Pliareholm, and Glentonan Craig, in La-
narkshire, " Pro suojidcli servitio jiohis impenso, et pro quod
interfuit in confiictu de Arkinholme in occisione et captio7ie
nostrorum rebellium quondam Archibaldi et Hugonis de Douglas
olim Comitum Moravice et de Onnond et aliorum rebellium nos-
trorum in eonim comitiva exist en : ibidem captorum et inter Jecto-
rum.'' Similar grants of land were made to Finnart and Ar-
ran, the two branches of the house of Hamilton ; to the
chief of the Battisons ; but above all to the Earl of Angus,
who obtained from royal favour a donation of the Lordship
of Douglas, and many other lands now held by Lord Dou-
glas, as his representative. There appears, however, to be
some doubt, whether, in this division, the Earl of Angus re-
ceived more than his natural right. Our historians, indeed,
say, that William, 1st Earl of Douglas, had three sons: 1.
James the 2d Earl, who died in the field of Otterburn ; 2.
Archibald the Grim, 3d Earl ; and 3. George, in right of
his mother, Earl of Angus. Whether, however, this Ar-
chibald was actually the son of William, seems very doubt-

102 INTRODUCTIO>f.

domains effectually interested them in excluding'

Ms return. An attempt on the East Borders by

" the Percy and the Douglas hoik together"

was equally unsuccessful. The Earl, grown

old in exile, longed once more to see his native

country, and vowed that, upon Saint Magdalen's

day, he would deposit his offering on the high

altar at Lochmaben. Accompanied by the

banished Earl of Albany, with his usual fortune,

he entered Scotland. The Borderers assembled

to oppose him, and he suffered a final defeat at

Burnswark, in Dumfries-shire. The aged Earl

was taken in the fight, by a son of Kirkpatrick

of Closeburn, one of his own vassals. A grant

ful ; and Sir David Dalninple has strenuously maintained
the contrary. Now, if Archibald the Grim intruded into
the Earldom of Douglas, without being a son of that fa-
mily, it follows that the house of Angus, being kept out of
their just rights for more than a century, were only resto-
red to them after the battle of Arkinholme. Perhaps this
may help to account for the eager interest taken by tlie Earl
of Angus against his kinsman.' — See Remarks on the His-
tory of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1773, p. 121.

i[Tlie connexion between tlie honse of Angus and the old line of
Douglas has at lensrth, it is bt-lieved, been settled by the resoarclies of
the learned John Riild.'ll. The first D..U!.'Ia< of Angus was, arcordingr
to this authority, a natural son of the first Earl of Douglas.— Eu.]

INTRODUCTION. 103

of lands had been offered for his person : " Carry
me to the King ! " said Douglas to Kirkpatrick :
" thou art well entitled to profit by my misfor-
tune ; for thou wast true to me, while I was true
to myself." The young man wept bitterly, and
offered to fly with the Earl into England. But
Douglas, weary of exile, refused his proffered
liberty, and only requested, that Kirkpatrick
would not deliver him to the King, till he had
secured his own reward.^ Kirkpatrick did more ;
he stipulated for the personal safety of his old
master. His generous intercession prevailed ; and
the last of the Douglasses was permitted to die,
in monastic seclusion, in the Abbey of Lindores.
After the fall of the house of Douglas, no one
chieftain appears to have enjoyed the same exten-
sive supremacy over the Scottish Borders. The
various barons, who had partaken of the spoil,
combined in resisting a succession of uncontrolled
domination. The Earl of Angus alone seems to
have taken rapid steps in the same course of am-

' A grant of the King, dated 2d October, 1484, bestowed
upon Kirkpatrick, for this acceptable service, the lands of
Kirkmichael.

104 INTRODLCTION.

bition, uhicli had been pursued by his knismen,
and rivals, the Earls of Douglas. Archibald, sixth
Earl of Angus, called Bell-the-Caf, was, at once,
Warden of the East and Middle ^Marches, Lord of
Liddesdale, and Jedwood forest, and possessed of
the strong castles of Douglas, Hermitage, and
Tantallon. Highly esteemed by the ancient no-
bility, a faction which he headed shook the throne
of the feeble James HI., whose person they re-
strained, and whose minions they led to an igno-
minious death. The King failed not to show his
sense of these insults, though unable effectually to
avenge them. This hastened his fate : and the field
of Bannockburn, once the scene of a more glorious
conflict, beheld the com])ined chieftains of the
Border counties arrayed against their sovereign,
under the bainiers of his own son. The King was
supported by almost all the barons of the north ;
but the tumultuous ranks of the Highlanders were
ill able to endure the steady and ra))id charge of
the men of Ainiandale and Liddesdale, who bare
spears two ells longer than were used by the rest
of their countrymen. Tlie yells witli wliieli they
accompanied their onset, caused the iieart of
James to quail within him. He deserted his host,

INTRODUCTION. 105

and fled towards Stirling ; but, falling- from
his horse, he was murdered by the pusuers.

James IV., a monarch of a vigorous and ener-
getic character, was well aware of the danger
which his ancestors had experienced from the pre-
ponderance of one overgrown family. He is sup-
posed to have smiled internally, when the Border
and Highland champions bled and died in the
savage sports of chivalry, by which his nuptials
were solemnized. Upon the waxing power of
Angus he kept a wary eye ; and, embracing the
occasion of a casual slaughter, he compelled that
Earl and his son to exchange the lordship of Lid-
desdale, and the castle of Hermitage, for the castle
and lordship of Bothwell. ^ By this policy he pre-
vented the house of Angus, mighty as it was,

■ Spens of Kilspindie, a renowned cavalier, had been pre-
sent in court, when the Earl of Angus was highly praised
for strength and valour. " It may be," answered Spens,
" if all be good that is upcome ;" insinuating that the cou-
rage of the Earl might not answer the promise of his per-
son. Shortly after, Angus, while hawking near Borthwick,
with a single attendant, met Kilspindie. " What reason had
ye," said the Earl, "for making question of my manhood?
thou art a tall fellow, and so am I ; and by St Bride of
Douglas, one of us shall pay for it!" — " Since it may be
no better," answered Kilspindie, " I will defend myself
against the best earl in Scotland." With these words they

106 INTRODUCTION.

from rising- to the height whence the elder branch
of their family had been hurled.

Nor did James fail in affording his subjects on
the Marches marks of his royal justice and protec-
tion. The clan of Turnbull having been
guilty of unbounded excesses, the King
came suddenly to Jedburgh, by a night march,
and executed the most rigid justice upon the asto-
nished offenders. Their submission was made
with singular solemnity. Two hundred of the
tribe met the King, at the water of Rule, hold-
ing in their hands the naked swords with Avhich
they had perpetrated their crimes, and having-

encountered fiercely, till Angus, with one blow, severed
the thigh of his antagonist, who died upon the spot. The
Earl then addressed the attendant of Kilspindie : " Go thy
way : tell my gossip, the King, that here was nothing but
fair play. I know my gossip will be offended ; but I will
get me into Liddesdale, and remain in my castle of the
Hermitiige till his anger be abated." — Godscroft, vol. ii.
p. 59. The price of the Earl's pardon seems to have been
the exchange mentioned in the text. Bothwell is now the
residence of Lord Doughus. The sword with which Ar-
chibald Bell-the- Cat slew Spens, was, by his descendant,
the famous Earl of Morton, presented to Lord Lindcsay
of the Byres, when aliout to engage in single combat with

the noted Earl of Bothwell, at Carberry-hill Godscroft,

vol. ii. p. 175.

INTRODUCTION. 107

each around his neck the halter which he had
well merited. A few were capitally punished,
many imprisoned, and the rest dismissed, after
they had given hostages for their future peaceable
demeanour.^

The hopes of Scotland, excited by the prudent
and spirited conduct of James, were doomed to a
sudden and fatal reverse. V^y should we recapi-
tulate the painful tale, of the defeat and death of
a high-spirited prince ? Prudence, policy, the
prodigies of superstition, and the advice of his
most experienced counsellors, were alike unable
to subdue in James the blazing zeal of romantic
chivalry. The monarch, and the flower of his
nobles, precipitately rushed to the fatal
field of Flodden, whence they were never
to return.

The minority of James V. presents a melan-
choly scene. Scotland, through all its extent,
felt the truth of the adage, that " the country
is hapless, whose prince is a child." But the
Border counties, exposed from their situation to
the incursions of the English, deprived of many
of their most gallant chiefs, and harassed by the

^ Holingshed's Chronicle — Lesly.

108 INTRODUCTION.

intestine struggles of the survivors, were reduced
to a wilderness, inhabited only by the beasts of
the field, and by a few more brutal warriors.
Lord Home, the chamberlain and favourite of
James IV., leagued with the Earl of Angus, wlio
married the widow of his sovereign, held, for a
time, the chief sway upon the East Border. Al-
bany, the Regent of the kingdom, bred in the
French court, and more accustomed to wield the
pen than the sword, feebly endeavoured to con-
trol a lawless nobility, to whom his manners
appeared strange, and his person despicable.
It was in vain that he inveigled the Lord
Home to Edinburgh, where he was tried and exe-
cuted. This example of justice, or severity, only
irritated the kinsmen and followers of the decea-
sed baron : for though, in other respects, not
more sanguinary than the rest of a barbarous
nation, the Borderers never dismissed from their
memory a deadly feud, till blood for blood had
been exacted to the uttermost drachm.^ Of this.

' The statute 1.59-1, cap. 2'M, ascribes tlie disorders on
the Border in a ijreat measure to tlie " coiiiiselles, direc-
tions, receipt, and jiartal^inc;, of cliiel'tains principalles of
the branches, and liousehalders of the saids surnames, and

INTRODUCTION. 109

the fate of Anthony d'Arcey, Seigneur de la
Bastie, aifords a melancholy example. This
gallant French cavalier was appointed Warden
of the East Marches by Albany, at his first dis-
graceful retreat to France. Though De La
Bastie was an able statesman, and a true son of
chivalry, the choice of the regent was neverthe-
less unhappy. The new warden was a foreigner,
placed in the office of Lord Home, as the
delegate of the very man who had brought
that baron to the scaffold. A stratagem, contrived
by Home of Wedderburn, who burned to avenge
the death of his chief, drew De la Bastie towards
Langton in the Merse. Here he found himself
surrounded by his enemies. In attempting, by
the speed of his horse, to gain the castle of Dun-
bar, the warden plunged into a morass, where he
was overtaken, and cruelly butchered. Wedder-
Imrn himself cut off his head; and, in savage
triumph, knitted it to his saddle-bow by the long
flowing hair, which had been admired by the
dames of France Pitscottie, edit. 1728, p.

c'lannes, quhilkis bears quarrel, and seeks revenge for the
least hurting or slauchter of ony ane of their unhappy race,
although it were orclour of justice, or in rescuing and fol-
lowing of true mens geares stollen or reft."
1

110 INTKODUCTION.

130. Pinkerton's History of Scotland, vol. il.
p. 169.^

The Earl of Arran, head of the house of Ha-
milton, was appointed to succeed De la Bastie in
his perilous office. But the Douglasses, the
Homes, and the Kerrs, proved too strong for him

upon the Border. He was routed by those
1520

clans, at Kelso, and afterwards in a sharp

skirmish, fought betwixt his faction and that of

Angus, in the High Street of the metropolis.*

' This tragedy, or, perhaps, the preceding execution of
Lord Home, must have been the subject of a song, tlu>
iirst two lines of which are preserved in the Complayni of
Scotland —

God sen' the Due bed byddin in France,
And De la Bate had never come hame.

P. 100, Edin. 1801.

>The particulars of this encounter are interesting. The
Hamiltons were the most numerous party, drawn chiefly
from the western counties. Their leaders met in the pa-
lace of Archbishop Beaton, and resolved to apprehend
Angus, who was come to the city to attend the Conven-
tion of Estates. Gawin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld, a
near relation of Angus, in vain endeavoured to mediate
betwixt the factions. He appealed to Beaton, and invoked
his assistance to prevent bloodshed. "On my conscience,"
answered the Archbisliop, " 1 cannot help what is to hap-
pen." As he laid his hand upon his breast, at this soleimi

INTRODUCTION. Ill

The return of the Regent was followed by the
banishment of Angus, and by a desultory warfare
with England, carried on with mutual incur-
sions. Two gallant armies, levied by Albany,
were dismissed without any exploit worthy notice,

declaration, the hauberk, concealed by his rochet, was
heard to clatter : " Ah ! my lord ! " retorted Douglas,
"your conscience sounds hollow." He then expostulated
with the secular leaders, and Sir Patrick Hamilton, brother
to Arran, was convinced by his remonstrances ; but Sir
James, the natural son of the Earl, upbraided his uncle
with reluctance to fight. " False bastard!" answered Sir
Patrick, " I will fight to-day where thou darest not be
seen." With these words they rushed tumultuously towards
the High Street, where Angus, with the Prior of Colding-
hame, and the redoubted Wedderburn, waited their assault,
at the head of 400 spearmen, the flower of the East
Marches, who, having broke down the gate of the Nether-
bow, had arrived just in time to the Earl's assistance. The
advantage of the ground, and the disorder of the Hamil-
tons, soon gave the day to Angus. Sir Patrick Hamilton,
and the Master of Montgomery, were slain. Arran, and
Sir James Hamilton, escaped with difficulty ; and with no
less difficulty was the mihtary prelate of Glasgow rescued
from the ferocious Borderers, by the generous interposition
of Gawin Douglas. The skirmish was long remembered
in Edinburgh, by the name of " Cleanse the Causeway."

— Pixkerton's History, vol. ii. p. 181 Pitscottie,

Edit. r28, p. 120 Life of Gawain Douglas, prefixed to his

VirPi

112 INTRODUCTION.

whll? Surrey, at the head of ten thousand cavalry,
burnt Jedburgh, and laid waste all Tiviotdale.
This general pays a splendid tribute to the gal-
lantry of the Border chiefs. He terms them,

" The boldest men and the hottest, that
1523 ^ . . „,

ever 1 saw in any nation. ^

Disgraced and detested, Albany bade adieu to
Scotland for ever. The Queen-mother and the
Earl of Arran for some time swayed the king-
dom. But their power was despised on the Bor-
ders, where Angus, though banished, had many
friends. Scott of Buccleuch even appropriated to
himself domains belonging to the Queen, worth
400 merks yearly ; being probably the castle of
Newark, and her jointure lands in Ettrick forest."
— This chief, with Kerr of Cessford, was com-

' A curious letter from Surrey to the King is printed in
the Appendix, No. I.

* In a letter to the Duke of Norfolk, October 1524,
Queen Margaret says, " Sen that the Lard of Sessford and
the Lard of Baclw vas put in the Castcll of Edinbrouli,
the ErI of Lenness hath past hyz vay vythout lycyens, and
in despyt ; and thynkyth to make the brck that lie may,
and to solyst other lordis to tak hyz part ; for the said Lard
of Bavklw vas hyz man, and dyd the gretyst ewelyz that
myght be dwn, and twk part playnly vytli theftyz as is well
known."— CW. Mi'S. Cans'. B. I.

INTRODUCTION. 113

mittedto ward, from wldcli they escaped, to
join the party of the exiled Angus. Leagued
with these, and other Border chiefs, Angus effect-
ed his return to Scotland, where he shortly after
acquired possession of the supreme power, and of
the person of the youthful King. " The ancient
power of the Douglasses," says the accurate his-
torian whom I have so often referred to, " seemed
to have revived ; and, after a slumber of near a
century, again to threaten destruction to the
Scottish monarchy." — Pinkerton, vol. ii. p.
277.

In fact, the time now returned, when no one
durst strive with a Douglas, or with his follower.
For, although Angus used the outward pageant
of conducting the King around the country, for
punishing thieves and traitors, " yet," says Pit-
scottie, " none were found greater than were in
his own company." The high spirit of the young
King was galled by the ignominious restraint
under which he found himself; and, in a progress
to the Border, for repressing the Armstrongs, he
probably gave such signs of dissatisfaction, as
excited the Laird of Buccleuch to attempt his

114 INTRODUCTION.

This powerful baron was the chief of a
hardy clan, inhabiting Ettrick forest, Esk-
dale, Ewsdale, the higher part of Tiviotdale, and
a portion of Liddesdale. In this warlike district
he easily levied a thousand horse, comprehending
a large body of Elliots, Armstrongs, and other
broken clans, over whom the Laird of Buccleuch
exercised an extensive authority ; being termed,
by Lord Dacre, " chief maintainer of all mis-
guided men on the Borders of Scotland." — Let-
ter to Wolsey, July 18, 1528. The Earl of An-
gus, with his reluctant ward, had slept at Mel-
rose ; and the clans of Home and Kerr, under
the Lord Home, and the Barons of Cessford and
Fairnihirst, had taken their leave of the King,
when, in the grey of the morning, Buccleuch and
his band of cavalry were discovered hanging, like
a thunder-cloud, upon the neigldjouring hill of
Haliden.^ A herald was sent to demand his pur-
pose, and to charge him to retire. To tlie Jir.st

' Near Darnick. By a corruption from Skirmisli-ficM,
the spot is called the Skinncrsfiold. Two lines of an old
ballad on the subject are still preserved :

" There were sic belts and blows,

The Mattous burn ran blood."
[Another part of the field is still called the Charge Lair —
Ed.]

INTRODUCTION. 115

point he answered, that he came to show his elan
to the King, according to the custom of the Bor-
ders ; to the second, that he knew the King's mind
better than Angus. — When this haughty answer
was reported to the Earl, " Sir," said he to the
King, " yonder is Buccleuch, with the thieves of
Annandale and Liddesdale, to bar your grace's
passage. I vow to God they shall either fight
OT flee. Your grace shall tarry on this hillock
with my brother George ; and I will either clear
your road of yonder banditti, or die in the at-
tempt." The Earl, with these words, alighted,
and hastened to the charge ; while the Earl of
Lennox (at whose instigation Buccleuch made
the attempt) remained with the King, an inactive
spectator. Buccleuch and his followers likewise
dismounted, and received the assailants with a
dreadful shout, and a shower of lances. The en-
counter was fierce and obstinate ; but the Homes
and Kerrs, returning at the noise of the battle,
bore down and dispersed the left wing of Buc-
cleuch's little army. The hired banditti fled on
all sides ; but the chief himself, surrounded by
liis clan, fought desperately in the retreat. The
Laird of Cessford, chief of the Roxburgh Kerrs,

116 INTRODUCTION.

pursued the chase fiercely ; till, at the bottom of
a steep path, Elliot of Stobs, a follower of Buc-
cleuch, turned, and slew him with a stroke of his
lance. When Cessford fell, the pursuit ceased.^
But his death, with those of Buccleuch's friends,
who fell in the action, to the number of eighty,
occasioned a deadly feud betwixt the names of
Scott and Kerr, which cost much blood upon
the Marches.^ — See Pitscottie, Lesly, and

GoDSCRaFT.

Stratagem at length effected what force

had been unable to accomplish ; and the

King, emancipated from the iron tutelage of

Angus, made the first use of his authority, by

' [Sir Walter Scott lived to be proprietor of the ground
on which this battle was fought ; and a stone seat, on the
edge of Kaeside, about half a mile above the house of Ab-
botsford, marks the spot, called " Turnagain," where Stobbs
Jialted, and Cessford died. — Ed.]

* Bucclcuch contrived to escape forfeiture, a doom pro-
nounced againt those nobles, who assisted the Earl of Len-
nox in a subsequent attempt to deliver the King, by force
of arms. " The laird of Bukclcugh has a rcspccte, and is
not forfeited ; and will get his pece, luid was in Lethquo,
both Sondaye, Mondaye, and Tewisday last, which is grete
displeasure to tlie Carres." — Letter from Sir C. Dacre to
Lord Dacre, 2d December, 1526.

INTRODUCTION. 117

banishing from the kingdom his late lieutenant,
and the whole race of Douglas. This command
was not enforced without difficulty ; for the power
of Angus was strongly rooted in the East Bor-
der, where he possessed the castle of Tantallon,
and the hearts of the Homes and Kerrs. The
former, whose strength was proverbial,^ defied a
royal army ; and the latter, at the Pass of Pease,
baffled the Earl of Argyle's attempts to enter
the Merse, as lieutenant of his sovereign. On
this occasion, the Borderers regarded with won-
der and contempt the barbarous array and rude
equipage of their northern countrymen. Gods-
croft has preserved the beginning of a scoffing^
rhyme, made upon this occasion : —

The Earl of Argyle is bound to ride
From the border of Edgebucklin brae ; »

And all his habergeons him beside,
Each man upon a sonk of strae i

They made their vow that they would slay...

*****

GoDSCROFT, vol. ii, p. 104, Edit. 1743.

' " To ding down Tantallon, and make a bridge to the
Bass," was an adage expressive of impossibility. The
shattered ruins of this celebrated fortress still overhang a
tremendous rock on the coast of East Lothian.

* Edgebucklin, near Musselburgh.

118 INTRODUCTION.

The pertinacious opposition of Angus to his
doom irritated to the extreme the fiery temper of
James, and he swore, in his wrath, that a Dou-
glas should never serve him ; an oath which he
kept in circumstances, under which the spirit of
chivalry which he worshipped' should have
taught him other feelings.

' I allude to the affecting story of Douglas of Kilspindie,
uncle to the Earl of Angus. This gentleman had been
placed by Angus about the King's person, who, when a
boy, loved him much on account of his singular activity of
body, and Mas wont to call him liis Graystcil, after a
champion of chivalry, in the romance of Sir Eger and Sir
Gi-ime. He shared, however, the fate of his chief, and
for many years served in France. Weary at length of
exile, the aged warrior, recollecting the King's persona?
attachment to him, resolved to throw himself on his cle-
mency. As James returned from hunting in the park at
Stirling, he saw a person at a distance, and, turning to hi<
nobles, exclaimed, " Yonder is my Graysteil, Archibald
of Kilspindie ! " As he approached, Douglas threw himself
on his knees, and implored permission to lead an obscure
life in his native land. But the name of Douglas was an
amulet, which steel'd the King's heart against the influence
of compassion and juvenile recollection. He passed the
.suppliant without an answer, and rode briskly up the steep
hill towards the castle. Kilspindie, though loaded with a
hauberk under his clothes, kept pace witli tiie horse, in.

INTRODUCTION. 119

WTille these transactions, by which the fate of
Scotland was influenced, were passing upon the
Eastern Border, the Lord Maxwell seems to
have exercised a most uncontrolled domination
in Dumfries-shire. Even the power of the Earl
of Angus was exerted in vain against the ban-
ditti of Liddesdale, protected and bucklered by
this mighty chief. Repeated complaints were
made by the English residents, of the devastation
occasioned by the depredations of the Elliots,
Scotts, and Armstrongs, connived at and encou-
raged by Maxwell, Buccleuch, and Fairnihirst.
At a convention of Border commissioners, it was
agreed that the King of England, in case the
excesses of the Liddesdale freebooters were not
duly redressed, should be at liberty to issue let-

Aain endeavouring to catch a glance from the implacable
monarch. He sat down at the gate, weary and exhausted,
and asked for a draught of water. Even this was refused
by tlie royal attendants. The King afterwards blamed
their discourtesy ; but Kilspindie was obliged to return to
France, where he died of a broken heart ; the same dis-
ease wliich afterwards brought to the grave his unrelent-
ing sovereign. Even the stern Henry VIII. blamed his
nephew's conduct, quoting the generous saying, " A King's
face should give grace." — Godscroft, vol. ii. p. 107.

120 INTRODUCTION.

ters of reprisal to his injured subjects, granting-
" power to invade the said inhabitants of Lid-
desdale, to their slaughters, burning, herships,
robbing, reifing, despoiling, and destruction, and
so to continue the same at his Grace's pleasure,"
tiU the attempts of the inhabitants were fully
atoned for. This impolitic expedient, by which
the Scottish Prince, unable to execute justice on
his turbulent subjects, committed to a rival sove-
reign the power of unlimited chastisement, was
a principal cause of the savage state of the Bor-
ders. For the inhabitants, finding that the sword
of revenge was substituted for that of justice,
were loosened from their attachment to Scotland,
and boldly threatened to carry on their depreda-
tions, in spite of the efforts of both kingdoms.

James V., however, was not backward in
using more honourable expedients to quell the
banditti on the Borders. The imprison-
ment of their chiefs, and a noted expedition,
in which many of the principal thieves were exe-
cuted, (see introduction to the ballad, called
Johnie Armstromj,) produced such good effects,
that, according to an ancient picturesque history,
" thereafter there was great peace and rest a long

INTRODUCTION. 121

time, wherethrough the King had great profit ;
for he had ten thousand sheep going in the Et-
trick forest, in keeping by Andrew Bell, who
made the King so good count of them as they
had gone in the bounds of Fife." — Pitscottie,
p. 153.

A breach with England interrupted the tran-
quillity of the Borders. The Earl of
^ ^ . 1332

Northumberland, a formidable name to

Scotland, ravaged the Middle Marches, and
burnt Branxholm, the abode of Buccleuch, the
hereditary enemy of the English name. Buc-
cleuch, with the Barons of Cessford and Fairni-
hirst, retaliated by a raid into England, where
they acquired much spoil. On the East
March, Fowberry was destroyed by the
Scotts, and Dunglass Castle by D'Arcy, and the
banished Angus.

A short peace was quickly followed by another
war, which proved fatal to Scotland, and to her
King. In the battle of Haddenrig, the Eng-
lish, and the exiled Douglasses, were defeated
by the Lords Huntly and Home ; but this was
a transient gleam of success. Kelso was burnt.

122 INTRODUCTION.

and the Borders ravasfed, by the Duke of
1542 ^ & ' .

Norfolk ; and finally, the rout of Solway

Moss, in which ten thousand men, the flower of
the Scottish army, were dispersed and defeated
by a band of five hundred English cavalry, or
rather by their own dissensions, broke the proud
heart of James ; a death more painful, a hun-
dred-fold, than was met by his father in the field
of Flodden.

When the strength of the Scottish army had
sunk, without wounds, and without renown, the
principal chiefs were led captive into England.
Among these was the Lord Maxwell, who was
compelled, by the menaces of Henry, to swear
allegiance to the English monarch. There is
still in existence the spirited instrument of vin-
dication, by which he renounces his connexion
with England, and the honours and estates which
had been proffered him, as the price of treason
to his infant sovereign. From various bonds of
manrent, it appears that all the Western Marches

were swayed by this powerful chieftain.
1343 .

AVith Maxwell, and the other captives, re-
turned to Scotland the banished Earl of Angus,
and his brother, Sir George Douglas, after a

INTRODUCTION. 125

banishment of fifteen years. This powerful fa-
mily regained at least a part of their influence
upon the Borders ; and, grateful to the kingdom
which had afforded them protection during their
exile, became chiefs of the English faction in
Scotland, whose object it was to urge a contract
of marriage betwixt the young Queen and the
heir-apparent of England. The impetuosity of
Henry, the ancient hatred betwixt the nations,
and the wavering temper of the Governor, Ar-
ran, prevented the success of this measure. The
wrath of the disappointed monarch discharged
itself in a wide-wasting and furious invasion of
the East Marches, conducted by the Earl of
Hertford. Seton, Home, and Buccleuch, hang-
ing on the mountains of Lammermoor, saw,
with ineffectual regret, the fertile plains of Merse
and Lothian, and the metropolis itself, reduced
to a smoking desert. Hertford had scarcely re-
treated with the main army, when Evers and
Latoun laid waste the whole vale of Tiviot, with
a ferocity of devastation hitherto unheard of.^

» In Hayne's State Papers, from p. 43 to p. 64, is an
account of these destructive forays. One list of the places
burnt and destroyed enumerates —

124 INTRODUCTION.

The same " lion mode of wooing," being pur-
sued during the minority of Edward VI., totally
alienated the affections even of those Scots who
were most attached to the English interest. The
Earl of Angus, in particular, united himself to
the Governor, and gave the English a sharp
defeat at Ancram Moor, a particular account
of which action is subjoined to the ballad,
entitled. The Eve of St John. Even the fatal
defeat at Pinkey, which at once renewed the
carnage of Flodden, and the disgrace of Solway,
served to prejudice the cause of the victors. The
Borders saw, with dread and detestation, the
ruinous fortress of Roxburgh once more receive
an English garrison, and the widow of Lord
Home driven from his baronial castle to make

room for the " Southern Beivers." Many

1547 . . . -^

ot the barons made a reluctant submission

JMonasteries and Fieerehouses, . 7

Castles, towies, and piles, . .16

Market towncs, . . . 6

Villages 243

Mylnes, . . . .13

Spytells and hospitals, . . 3

See also official accounts of these expeditions.

m Dal

yell's Framncnts.

INTRODUCTION. 125

to Somerset ; but those of the higher part of the
Marches remained among their mountains, me-
ditating revenge. A similar incursion was made
on the West Borders by Lord Wharton, who,
with five thousand men, ravaged and overran
Annandale, Nithsdale, and Galloway, compel-
ling the inhabitants to receive the yoke of
I England.^

» Patten gives us a list of those East Border chiefs who
did homage to the Duke of Somerset, on the 24th of Sep-
tember, 1547 ; namely, the Lairds of Cessforth, Ferny-
herst, Grenehead, Hunthill, Hundely, Makerstone, By-
merside, Bounjedworth, Ormeston, Mellestaines, Warme-
say, Synton, Egerston, Merton, Mowe, RydeU, Beamer-
side. Of gentlemen, he enumerates George Tromboul,
Jhon Hahburton, Robert Car, Robert Car of Greyden,
Adam Kirton, Andrew Mether, Saunders Purvose of
Erleston, Mark Car of Littledean, George Car of Falden-
side, Alexander Mackdowal, Charles Rutherford, Thomas
Car of the Yere, Jhon Car of Meynthorn, (Nenthorn,)
Walter Haliburton, Richard Hangansyde, Andrew Car,
James Douglas of Cavers, James Car of Mersington,
George Hoppringle, William Ormeston of Emerden, John
Grymslowe Patten, in Dalyell's Fragments, p. 87.

On the West Border, the following barons and clans
submitted, and gave pledges to Lord Wharton, that they
would serve the King of England, with the number of^
followers annexed to their names : — .

126

INTRODUCTION.

The arrival of French auxiliaries, and of
French gold, rendered vain the splendid suc-
cesses of the English. One by one, the fort-
resses which they occupied were recovered hy

Annerdai-e.

NiTHSDALE.

Laird of Kirkmigliel,

222

Mr Maxwell and more.

1000

Rose, . . .

165

Laird of Closeburn, .

. 403

Hempsfield,

163

Lag, . .

. 202

Home Ends, .

162

Crausficld, .

. 27

Wamfrev, . .

102

IVIr Ed. Creighton, .

10

Dunwoddy,

44

Laird of Cowhill, .

91

Newby & Gratney

122

Maxwells of Brackenside,

Tinnel(Timvald),

102

and ^'icar of Carlaveri

ck, 310

Patrick l\Iurray,

203

Akxerdale and Galway.

Christie Urwin (Irvinji;) of

Lord Carlisle, . .

. 101

Coveshawe,

102

Aknerdai.e & Clidsdale.

Cutlibert Urwcn of Robbgi

1,34

Laird of Applegirth,

242

Urweus of Seunersack, ,

4')

LiDDESDAI.E & DeBATEABI.I:

Wat Urwcn, ....

20

Land.

Jeffrey Urwen, .

<i:5

Armstrongs,

300

T. Johnston of Crackl)urn,

64

Ehvoods (Elliots,) .

74

James Johnston of Coitos,

162

jVixons, ....

32

Johnstons of Craggyhmd,

37

Gai.i.oway.

Johnstons of Dricsdell, .

46

Laird of Dawbaytie,

41

Johnstons of lAIalinshaw,

65

Oriherton, . . .

111

Gawen Johnston,

31

Carlisle, ....

20(5

Will .Johnston, the lairdV

Loiighcnwar, . .

45

brother, ....

110

Tutor of Bond)ie, .

140

Eobiu Johnston of Loch-

Abbot of Newabbey,

141

mabc'u, ....

67

Town of Dumfries,

201

INTRODUCTION. 127

force, or by stratagem ; and the vindictive cruelty
of the Scottish Borderers made dreadful retalia-
tion for the injuries they had sustained. An idea
may be conceived of this horrible warfare, from
the Memoirs of Beaugue, a French officer,
serving in Scotland.

The Castle of Fairnihirst, situated about three
miles above Jedburgh, had been taken and gar-
risoned by the English. The commander and his
followers are accused of such excesses of lust and
cruelty, " as would," says Beaugue, " have made
to tremble the most savage Moor in Africa." A
band of Frenchmen, with the Laird of Fairni-
hirst, and his Borderers, assaulted this fort-

1549
ress. The English archers show^ered their

arrows down the steep ascent leading to the

Anxerdale.

Galloway.

Laird of Gillersbie, .

30

Town of Kircubrie,

3a

Moffits,

24

TlVIDALE.

Bells of Tostiuts, . .

142

Lainl of Drundirc, . .

364

BeUs of Tindills, . .

222

Caruthers, ....

71

Sir Jolin Lawson,

32

Trunibdls, ....

12

Town of Annan,

33

EsKDALE.

Roomes of Toideplie, .

32

Battisons and Thomsons,

106

Total, 7008 men under English assurance.

Nicohon,from BeWs MS. Introduction to Ilistort/ of Cumherland,

p. 65.

128 INTRODUCTION.

castle, and from the outer wall by which it was sur-
rounded. A vigorous escalade, however, gained
the base court, and the sharp fire of the Frencli
arquebusiers drove the bowmen into the square
keep, or dungeon, of the fortress. Here the
EngKsh defended themselves, till a breach in tlie
wall was made by mining. Through this hole
the commandant creeped forth ; and, surrender-
ing himself to De la Mothe-rouge, implored prc-
tection from the vengeance of the Borderers.
But a Scottish Marchman, eyeing in the captive
the ravisher of his wife, approached him ere the
French officer could guess his intention, and, at
one blow, carried his head four paces from the
trunk. Above a hundred Scots rushed to wash
their hands in the blood of their oppressor, ban-
died about the severed head, and expressed their
joy in such shouts, as if they had stormed the
city of London. The prisoners, who fell into
their merciless hands, were put to death, after
their eyes had been torn out ; the victors con-
tending who should display the greatest address
in severing their legs and arms, before inflicting
a mortal wound. When their own prisoners were
slain, the Scottish, with an unextinguishuble tliirst

INTRODUCTION. 129

for blood, purchased those of the French ; parting
willingly with their very arms, in exchange for
an English captive. " I myself," says Beaugue,
with military sang-froid, " I myself sold them a
prisoner for a small horse. They laid him down
upon the ground, galloped over him w ith their
lances in rest, and wounded him as they passed.
When slain, they cut his body in pieces, and bore
the mangled gobbets, in triumph, on the points
of their spears. I cannot greatly praise the Scot-
tish for this practice. But the truth is, that the
English tyrannized over the Borders in a most
barbarous manner ; and I think it was but fair to
repay them, according to the proverb, in their
own coin." — Campagnes de Beaugue,^ (livre iii.
chap. 13.)

A peace, in 1551, put an end to this war; the
most destructive which, for a length of time, had
ravaged Scotland. Some attention was paid by
the governor and queen mother, to the admini-
stration of justice on the Border; and the chief-
tains, who had distinguished themselves during

[' The JMaitland Club of Glasgow printed, in 1830, a
beautiful edition of the " Histoire de la Guerre d'Ecosse,
par Ian de Beaugue, gentilhomme Fran9ois." — Ed.]

VOL. I. I

130 INTRODUCTION.

the late troubles, received the honour of knight-
hood.^

At this time, also, the Debateable Land,
1552

a tract of country, situated betwixt the Esk

and Sarke, claimed by both kingdoms, was divi-
ded by royal commissioners, appointed by the
two crowns. By their award, this land of con-
tention was separated by a line, drawn from east
to west, betwixt the rivers. The upper half was
adjudged to Scotland, and the more eastern part
to England. Yet the Debateable Land conti-
nued long after to be the residence of thieves and
banditti, to whom its dubious state had afforded
a desirable refuge.^

In 1557, a new war broke out, in which ren-
counters on the Borders were, as usual, nume-

' These were the Lairds of Buccleuch, Cessford, aiul
Fairnihirst, Littleden, Grcnched, andColdingknows. Buc-
cleuch, whose gallant exploits we have noticed, did not
long enjoy his new honours. He was murdered in the
streets of Edinburgh by his hereditary enemies, the Kerr><,
anno 1552.

• The jest of James VI. is well known, who, when a i'n-
vourite cow liad found her way from London, back to iier
native country of Fife, observed, " that nothing surprised
him so much as her passing uninterrupted through the De-
bateable Land!"

INTRODUCTION. 131

rous, and with varied success. In some of these,
the too-famous Bothwell is said to have given
proofs of his courage, which was at other times
very questionable.^ About this time the Scottish
Borderers seem to have acquired some ascend-
ency over their southern neighbours. — Strype,
vol. iii. — In 1559, peace was again restored.

The flame of reformation, long stifled in Scot-
land, now burst forth, with the violence of a vol-
canic eruption. The siege of Leith was com-
menced by the combined forces of the Congre-
gation and of England. The Borderers cared
little about speculative points of religion ; but
they showed themselves much interested in the
treasures which passed through their country,
for payment of the English forces at Edinburgh.

* He was Lord of Liddesdale, and keeper of the Hermi-
tage Castle. But he had little eiFective power over that
country, and was twice defeated by the Armstrongs, its
lawless inhabitants. — Border History, p. 584. Yet the
unfortunate Mary, in her famous Apology, says, " that m
the weiris against Ingland, he gaif proof of his valyentnes,
courage, and gude conduct ;" and praises him especially
for subjugating " the rebellious subjectis inhabiting the
cuntreis lying ewest the marches of Ingland." — Keith, p.
388. He appears actually to have defeated Sir Henry
Percy, in a skirmish, called the Raid of Haltwellswire.

132 INTRODUCTION.

Much alarm was excited, lest the Marchers should I
intercept these weighty Protestant arguments ; ;
and it was, probably, by voluntarily imparting a |
share in them to Lord Home, that he became & \
sudden convert to the new faith .^

Upon the arrival of the ill-fated Mary in her ,
native country, she found the Borders in a state |
of great disorder. The exertions of her natural ^
brother (afterwards the famous Regent Murray)
were necessary to restore some degree of tran-
quillity. He marched to Jedburgh, executed
twenty or thirty of the transgressors, burnt many
houses, and brought a number of prisoners to
Edinburgh. The chieftains of the principal clans
were also obliged to grant pledges for their future
obedience. A noted convention (for the particu-
lars of which, see Border Laios, p. 84) adopted
various regulations, Avhich were attended with
great advantage to the INIarches."

1 This nobleman had, sliortly before, threatened to spoil
the English East Marcli ; " but," says the Duke of Nor-
folk, " we have provided such sauce for him, that I think
iie will not deid in such matter; but, if he do fire but one
liay-goff, he sliall not go to Hodk- again witliout torch-
light, and, pcradvi'iiturc, may (iiul a lantliorn at liis own
house."

* Tlie commisifioners on the EiiL'lish i^ide were, the elder

INTRODUCTION. 133

The unhappy match betwLxt Henry Darnley
. and his sovereign led to new dissensions on the
, Borders. The Homes, Kers, and other East
i Marchers, hastened to support the Queen, against
i Murray, Chatelherault, and other nobles, whom
I her marriage had offended. For the same pur-
pose, the Johnstones, Jardines, and clans of An-
nandale, entered into bonds of confederacy. But
Liddesdale was under the influence of England ;
insomuch, that Randolph, the meddling English
minister, proposed to hire a band of strajjping
Elliots, to find Home business at Home, in looking
after his corn and cattle. — Keith, p. 265. Ajjp.
133.

This storm was hardly overblown, when Both-
well received the commission of Lieutenant upon
the Borders ; but, as void of parts as of principle,
he could not even recover to the Queen's alle-
giance his own domains in Liddesdale. — Keith,
App. 165. The Queen herself advanced to the
Borders, to remedy this evil, and to hold courts

Lord Scroope of Bolton, Sir John Foster, Sir Thomas
Gargrave, and Dr Rookby. On the Scottish side, ap-
peared Sir John Maxwell of Terreagles, and Sir John
Bellenden.

]34 INTRODUCTION.

at Jedburgh. Bothwell Mas already in Liddes
dale, where he had been severely M'ounded, in an {
attempt to seize John Elliot, of the Parke, a
desperate freebooter ; and happy had it been for
Mary, had the dagger of the mosstrooper struck
more home. Bothwell, being transported to his
Castle of Hermitage, the Queen, upon hearing
the tidings, hastened thither. A dangerous mo-
rass, still called the QueerCs Mire,^ is pointed out
by tradition as the spot where the lovely Mary,
and her white palfrey, were in danger of perish-
ing. The distance betwixt Hermitage and Jed-
burgh, by the way of Hawick, is nearly twenty-
four English miles. The Queen went and re-
turned the same day. Whether she visited a

^ The Queen's Mire is still a pass of danger, exhibiting, in
many places, the bones of the horses which have been en-
tangled in it. For what reason the Queen chose to enter
Liddesdale, by the circuitous route of Hawick, is not told.
There are other two passes from Jedburgh to Hermitage
Castle ; the one by the Note of the Gate, the other over
the mountain called Winburgh. Either of these, but espe-
cially the latter, is sevenil miles shorter than that by Haw-
ick and the Queen's Mire. But, by the circuitous way of
Hawick, the Queen could traverse the districts of more
friendly clans, than by going directly into the disorderly
jjrovince of Liddesdale.

INTRODUCTION. 135

wounded subject, or a lover in danger, has been
warmly disputed in our latter days.

To the death of Henry Darnley, it is said,
some of the Border lords were privy. But the
subsequent marriage, betwixt the Queen and
Bothwell, alienated from her the affections of the
chieftains of the Marches, most of whom aided
the association of the insurgent barons. A few
gentlemen of the Merse, however, joined the
army which Mary brought to Carberry-hill. But
no one was willing to fight for the detested Both-
well, nor did Bothwell himself show any inclina-
tion to put his person in jeopardy. The result
to Mary was a rigorous captivity in Lochleven
Castle ; and the name of Bothwell scarcely again
pollutes the page of Scottish history.

The distress of a beautiful and afflicted princess
softened the hearts of her subjects ; and when she
escaped from her severe captivity, the most
powerful barons in Scotland crowded around her
standard. Among these were many of the West
Border men, under the Lords Maxwell and Her-
ries.^ But the defeat at Langside was a death-
blow to her interest in Scotland.

' The followers of these barons are said to have stolen

136 INTRODUCTION'.

Not long afterwards occurred that period of
general confusion on the Borders, when the in-
surrection of the Catholic Earls of Northumber-
land and Westmoreland took place upon the
Borders of England. Their tumultuary forces
were soon dispersed, and the Earls themselves,
with their principal followers, sought refuge upon
the Scottish Marches. Northumberland was be-
trayed into the hands of the Regent ; but West-
moreland, with his followers, took refuge in the
Castle of Fairnihirst, where he was protected by
its powerful OMuer. The Regent himself came
to Jedburgh, to obtain possession of these im-
portant pledges ; but as he marched towards the
Castle of Fairnihirst, his men shrunk from him
by degrees, till he was left with a small body of
his own personal dependents, inadequate to the
task for which he had undertaken the expedition.
Westmoreland afterwards escaped to Flanders by
sea. Robert Constable, a spy sent by Sir Ralph
Sadler into Scotland, gives a lively account of
the state of the Borders at this time.^

the horses of their frionds, wliilc tliey were engaged in the
battle.

' He was guided by one P}le of Millheucli, (upon Ox-

INTRODUCTION. 137

The death of the Regent Murray, in 1569,
excited the party of Mary to hope and to exer-
tion. It seems, that the design of Bothwell-
haugh, who slew him, was well known upon the

nam Water,) and gives the following account of his con-
versation -with him on the state of the country, and the
power of his master, the Baron of Fairnihirst : — " By the
way as we rode, I tould my oste that the Lord of Farne-
herst, his master, had taken such an entreprise in hand as
not a subject in England durst do the like, to kepe any
mann openly as he did the Earle of Westmorland, against
the will of the chief in aucthoritie. He said that his mas-
ter cared not so much for the Regent as the Regent cared
for him, for he was well able to raise iij thousand men
within his own rule, beside that his first wief, by whom he
hed goodly children, was daughter to the Lord Grange,
Captaine of Edenborowe Castell, and Provost of Edenbo-
rowe. This wief that he married lately is sister to the
Lord of Bucclewghe, a man of greater power then his mas-
ter ; also my Lord Hume, and almost all the gentlemen in
Tevydale, the Marsh, and Lowdyan, were knitt together
in such friendship that they are agred all to take one part ;
and that the Lord Grange was offended with the Lord
Hume and the Lord Farneherst, because they toke not
the Earle of Northumberland from my Lord Regent at
Gedworthe, and sent plane word to the Lord Farneherst,
that if the Lord Regent came any more to seeke him in
Te\7dale, he should lose all liis bulles, both the Duke, the
Lord Herris, the secretarv, and others, he should sett them

138 INTRODUCTION.

Borders ; for, the very day on which the slaugh-
ter happened, Buecleuch and Fairnihirst, witli
their elans, broke into England, and spread de-
vastation along the frontiers, with unusual fcro-

all at libertye that would come witli all their power, with
good will, to take his part ; and by as much as I hear siia e
the Tevydale menn pretends to do the anoyances that
they can to England, so sone as tliis storme is past, aiui
meanes not to answer to any day of truce."

Another passage presents a lively picture of the inside
of the outlaw's cabin : " I left Farneherst, and went to my
ostes house, where I found many gests of dyvers factions,
some outlawes of Ingland, some of Scotland, some neigh-
bors therabout, at cards ; some for ale, some for plake
and hardhedds ; and after tliat I had diligently learned and
enquired that there was none of any surname that had me
in deadly fude, nor none that knew me, I sat downe, and
plaid for hardhedds emongs them, where I hard, voxpoptdi,
that the Lord Regent would not, for his own honor, nor
for thonor of his countery, deliver the Earles, if he had
them bothe, unlest it were to have there Queue dehvered
to him ; and if he wold agre to make that change, the Bor-
derers wold stert up in his contrary, and reave both the
Queue and the Lords from him, for the like shame was
never done in Scotland ; and that he durst better eate his
owne luggs then come again to seke Farneherst ; if he did,
he should be fought with ere lie came over Sowtrey edge.
Hector of Tliarlowes' hedd was wished to have been eaten

I Hector of Hnrliiw is nicint, an outliiw who bt-traji'd tlic Earl of
>'orth umberlaud.

INTRODUCTION. 139

city. It is probable they well knew that the
controlling hand of the Regent was that day pal-
sied by death. Buchanan exclaims loudly against
this breach of truce with Elizabeth, charging
Queen Mary's party with having " houndit furth
proude and uncircumspecte young men, to hery,
burne, and slay, and tak prisoners, in her realme,
and use all misordour and crueltie, not only vsit
in weir, but detestabil to all barbar and wild
Tartaris, in slaying of prisoneris, and contrair to
all humanitie and justice, keeping na promeis to
miserabil captives resavit anis to thair mercy." —
Admonitioun to the trew Lordis, Striveling, 1571.
He numbers, among these insurgents, Highland-
ers as well as Borderers, Buccleuch and Fairni-
hirst, the Johnstones and Armstrongs, the Grants,
and the clan Chattan. Besides these powerful
clans, Mary numbered among her adherents the
Maxwells, and almost all the West Border lead-
ers, excepting Drumlanrig, and Jardine of Apple-
girth. On the Eastern Border, the faction of the
infant King was more powerful ; for, although

amongs us at supper." — Sadler's State Papers, Edin. 1809^
.vol. ii. pp. 384, 388.

140

INTRODUCTION.

deserted by Lord Home, the greater part of Iiis
clan, under the influence of Wedderburn, re-
mahied attached to that party. The Laird of
Cessford wished them well, and the Earl of An-
gus naturally followed the steps of his uncle
Morton. A sharp and bloody invasion of the
Middle March, under the command of the Earl
of Sussex, avenged Mith interest the raids of Buc-
cleuch and Fairnihirst. The domains of these
chiefs were laid waste, their castles burnt and de-
stroyed. The narrow vales of Beaumont and
Kale, belonging to Buccleuch, were treated with
peculiar severity ; and the forays of Hertford were
equalled by that of Sussex. Li vain did the chiefs
request assistance from the government to defend
their fortresses. Through the predominating in-
terest of Elizabeth in the Scottish councils, this
was refused to all but Home, whose castle, ne-
vertheless, again received an English garrison ;
while Buccleuch and Fairnihirst complained bit-
terly that those, who had instigated their inva-
sion, durst not even come so far as Lauder, to
show countenance to their defence against the
English. The bickerings which followed dis-
tracted the wliole kingdom. One celebrated ex-

INTRODUCTION. 141

ploit may be selected, as an illustration of the
Border fashion of war.

The Earl of Lennox, who had succeeded Mur-
ray in the regency, held a parliament at Stirling,
in 1571. The young King was exhibited to the
great council of his nation. He had been tutored
to repeat a set speech, composed for the occasion ;
but, observing that the roof of the building was
a little decayed, he interrupted his recitation, and
exclaimed, with childish levity, " that there was a
hole in the parliament," — words which, in those
days, were held to presage the deadly breach
shortly to be made in that body, by the death of
him in whose name it was convoked.

Amid the most undisturbed security of confi-
dence, the lords who composed this parliament
were roused at daybreak by the shouts of their
enemies, in the heart of the town. God and the
Queen ! resounded from every quarter, and in a
few minutes, the Regent, with the astonished
nobles of his party, were prisoners to a band of
two hundred Border cavalry, led by Scott of
Buccleuch, and to the Lord Claud Hamilton, at
the head of three hundred infantry. These en-
terprising chiefs, by a rapid and well-concerted

142 INTRODUCTION.

manoeuvre, had reached Stilling in a night march
from Edinburgh, and, without so much as being
bayed at by a watch-dog, had seized the princi-
pal street of the town. The fortunate obstinacy
of Morton saved his party. Stubborn and un-
daunted, he defended his house till the assailants
set it in flames, and then yielded with reluctance
to his kinsman, Buccleuch. But the time which
he had gained effectually served his cause. The
Borderers had dispersed to plunder the stables of
the nobility ; the infantry thronged tumultuously
together on the main street, when the Earl of
Mar, issuing from the castle, placed one or two
small pieces of ordnance, in his own half-built
house,^ which commands the market-place. Hard-
ly had the artillery begun to scour the street,
when the assailants, surprised in their turn, fled
with precipitation. Their alarm was increased
by the townsmen thronging to arms. Those who
had been so lately triumphant, were now, in many
instances, asking the protection of their own pri-
soners. In all probability, not a man would have
escaped death, or captivity, but for the charactor-

' This building still [lBO-2] roniaiiis in tiie uiirtiiislu'J
state which it then prL-senteti.

INTRODUCTION. 143

istic rapacity of Buccleuch's marauders, who,
having seized and carried oiF all the horses in the
town, left the victors no means of following the
chase. The Regent was slain by an officer, na-
med Caulder, in order to prevent his being res-
cued. Spens of Ormiston, to whom he had sur-
rendered, lost his life in a generous attempt to
protect him.^ Hardly does our history present

' Birrel says, that " the Regent was shot by an unhappy
fellow, while sitting on horseback behind the Laird of Buc-
cleuch." — The following curious account of the whole
transaction, is extracted from a journal of principal events,
in the years 1570, 1571, 1572, and part of 1573, kept by
Richard Bannatyne, amanuensis to John Knox. " The
fourt of September, they of Edinburgh, horsemen and fut-
men, (and, as was reported, the most part of Clidisdaill,
that pertenit to the Hamiltons,) come to Striveling, the
number of iii or iiii c men, on hors bak, guydit be ane
George Bell, their hacbutteris being all horsed, enterit in
Striveling, be fy\e houris in the morning, (whair thair was
never one to mak watche,) crying this slogane, ' God and
the Queen ! Ane Hamiltoune ! Think on the Bishop of St
Androis — all is owres;' and so a certaine come to everio
grit manis ludgene, and apprehendit the Lordis Mortouii
and Glencarne ; but Mortounis hous they set on fyre, wha
randerit him to tlie Laird of Balcleuch. Wormestoun being
appointed to the Regentes hous, desyred him to cum furth,
"which he had no will to doe, yet, be perswasione of Gar-

144 INTRODUCTION.

another enterprise, so well planned, so happily
commenced, and so strangely disconcerted. To
the licence of the Marchmen the failure was at-
tributed ; but the same cause ensured a safe re-
leys, and otheris with him, tho't it best to come in uill,
nor to byde the extremitie, becaus they supposed there
was no resistance, and saw the Regent come furth, and
was rendered to Wormestoune, under promeis to save his
lyfe. Captayne Crawfurde, being in the town, gat sum
men out of the castell, and uther gentlemen being in tlie
town, come as they my't best to the geat, chased them out
of the town. The Regent was shot by ane Captain Ca-
der, who confessed that he did it at commande of George
Bell, wha was commandit so to doe be the Lord Huntlie
and Claud Hamilton. Some says, that Wormestoun was
schot by the same scliot that slew the Regent, but alwayis
he was slane, notwithstanding the Regent cryed to save
him, but it culd not be, the furie was so grit of the persew-
aris, who, following so fast, the Lord of Mortone said to
Balcleuch, ' I sail save you as ye savit me,' and so he
was tane. Garleys, and sindrie otheris, ware slane at
the Port, in the pursute of thame. Thair war ten or twel\ e
gentlemen slane of the King's folk, and als mony of theris,
or mea, as was said, and a dozen or xvi tane. Twa espe-
i-iall servantis of the Lord Argj'le's were slane also. Tliis
Cader, that schot the Regent, was once turned bak oft" the
toune, and was send again (as is said) be the Lord Huut-
lie, to cause Wormistoun retire ; but, before he come agaue.
he was dispatched, and had gottin deidis woundis.
" The Regent being schot, (as said is,) was brouglit to
1

INTRODUCTION. 145

treat. — Spottiswoode, Godscroft, Robert-
son, Melville.

The wily Earl of Morton, who, after the short
intervening regency of Mar, succeeded to the
supreme authority, contrived, by force or artifice,
to render the party of the King everywhere su-
perior. Even on the Middle Borders, he had the
address to engage in his cause the powerful,
though savage and licentious, clans of Ruther-
ford and Turnbull, as well as the citizens of Jed-
burgh. He was thus enabled to counterpoise his
powerful opponents, Buccleuch and Fairnihirst,
in their own country ; and, after an unsuccessful
attempt to surprise Jedburgh, even these warm
adherents of Mary relinquished her cause in de-
spair.

the castel, whar he callit for ane phisitione, one for liis
soule, ane uther for his bodie. But all hope of life was
past, for he was schot in his entreaUis ; and swa, after sum-
thingis spokin to the Lordis, which I know not, he departed
in the feare of God, and made a blised end ; whilk the rest
of the Lordis, that tho't thame to his hiert, and lytle re-
guardit him, shall not mak so blised ane end, unles they
mend their maneirs."

This curious manuscript has been published under the
inspection of John Graham DalyeU, Esq.

VOL. I. K

146 INTRODUCTION.

WTiile Morton swayed the state, his attacli-
ment to Elizabeth, and the humihation which
many of the Border chiefs had undergone, con-
tributed to maintain good order on the Marches,
till James VI. himself assumed the reins of go-
vernment. The intervening skirmish of the Keid-
swire, (see the ballad under that title,) was but a
sudden explosion of the rivalry and suppressed
hatred of the Borderers of both kingdoms. In
truth, the stern rule of Morton, and of his dele-
gates, men unconnected Avith the Borders by
birth, maintained in that country more strict dis-
cipline than had ever before been there exercised.
Perhaps this hastened his fall.

The unpopularity of Morton, acquired })artlv
by the strict administration of justice, and partly
by avarice and severitv, forced him from the re-
gency. In 1578, he retired, apparently, from
state affairs, to his Castle of Dalkeith ; whicii
the populace, emphatically expressing their aM e
and dread of his person, termed the LioJi's Dc/i.
But Morton could not live in retirement ; and,
early in the same year, the aged lion again ruslicd
from his cavern. By a mixture of policy and
violence, he possessed himself of the fortress of

INTRODDCTION. 147

•Stirling, and of the person of James. His nephew,
Angus, hastened to his assistance. Against him
appeared his own old adherent Cessford, with
many of the Homes, and the citizens of Edinburgh.
Alluding to the restraint of the King's person,
they bore his effigy on their banners, with a rude
ihyme, demanding Hberty or death. — Birrel's
Diary, ad annum 1578. The Earl of Morton
marched against his foes as far as Falkirk, and a
desperate action must have ensued, but for the
persuasion of Bowes, the English ambassador.
The only blood, then spilt, was in a duel betwixt
Tait, a follower of Cessford, and Johnstone, a
West Border man, attending upon Angus. They
fought with lances, and on horseback, according-
to the fashion of the Borders. The former was
unhorsed and slain, the latter desperately wound-
ed.— GoDSCROFT, vol. ii. p. 261. The pru-
<lence of the late Regent appears to have aban-
doned him, when he was decoyed into a treaty
upon this occasion. It was not long before Mor-
ton, the veteran warrior, and the crafty states-
man, was forced to bend his neck to an engine of
death, ^ the use of which he himself had introdu-
ced into Scotland.

* A rude sort of guillotine, called the maiden. The im-

148 INTRODUCTION.

*

Released from the thraldom of Morton, the
King, with more than youthful levity, threw his
supreme power into the hands of Lennox and
Arran. The religion of the first, and the infa-
mous character of the second favourite, excited
the hatred of the commons, while their exclusive
and engrossing power awakened the jealousy of
the other nobles. James, doomed to be the sport
of contending factions, was seized at Stirling by
the nobles, confederated in what was termed the
raid of Ruthven. But the conspirators soon suf-
fered their prize to escape, and were rewarded for
their enterprise by exile or death.

In 1585, an affray took place at a Border meet-
ing, in which Lord Russel, the Earl of Bedford's
eldest son, chanced to be slain. Queen Eliza-
beth imputed the guilt of this slaughter to Tho-
mas Ker of Fairniliirst, instigated by Arran.
Upon the imperious demand of the English am-
bassador, both were committed to prison; but
the minion, Arran, was soon restored to liberty

plement is now in possession of the Society of Scottish
Antiquaries.

[By a curious coincidence, one of the very first tliat suf-
fered by the Gidlhlinc, is said to have been the surgeon
■wlio invented and gave his name to that more celebrated
maiden. — Eu.]

INTRODUCTION. 149

and favour ; while Fairnihirst, the dread of the
English Borderers, and the gallant defender of
Queen Mary, died in his confinement, of a bro-
ken heart. — Spottiswoode, p. 341.

The tyranny of Arran becoming daily more
insupportable, the exiled lords, joined by Max-
well, Home, Bothwell, and other Border chief-
tains, seized the town of Stirling, which was pil-
laged by their disorderly followers, invested the
castle, which surrendered at discretion, and drove
the favourite from the King's council.^

The King, perceiving the Earl of Bothwell
among the armed barons, to whom he surrendered
his person, addressed him in these prophetic
words : — " Francis, Francis, what moved thee
to come in arms against thy prince, who never
wronged thee ? I wish thee a more quiet spirit,
else I foresee thy destruction." — Spottiswoode,
p. 343.

' The associated nobles seem to have owed their success
chiefly to the Border spearmen ; for though they had a
band of mercenaries, who used fire-arms, yet they were
such bad masters of their craft, their captain was heard to
observe, " that those, who knew his soldiers as well as he
did, would hardly choose to yrmrch before them" — Gods-
CROFT, vol. ii. p. 368.

130 INTRODLCTION.

In fact, the extraordinary enterprises of this,
nobleman disturbed the next ten years of James's
reign. Francis Stuart, son to a bastard of James
v., had been invested -svith the titles and estates
belonging to his maternal uncle, James Hepburn,
Earl of Bothwell, upon the forfeiture of that info-
mous man ; and consequently became Lord of I.id-
desdale, and of the Castle of Hermitage. This
acquisition of power upon the Borders, -where he
could easily levy followers willing to undertake
the most desperate enterprises, joined to the man's-
native daring and violent spirit, rendered Both-
w^ell the most turbulent insurgent that ever dis-
tracted the tranquillity of a kingdom. During
the King's absence in Denmark, Bothwell, swav-
ed by the superstition of his age, had tampered
with certain soothsayers and witches, by whose
pretended art he hoped to foretell, or perhaps ta
achieve, the death of his monarch. In one of
the courts of inquisition, which James delighted
to hold upon the professors of the occult sciences,
some of his cousin's proceedings Avere brouglit
to light, for wliich lie was put in ward in the
Castle of lulinburgh. Burning Avith revenge,,
he l)roke from his continenicnt, and huked Ibr

INTRODUCTION. 151

some time upon the Borders, where he hoped for
the countenance of his son-in-law, Buccleuch.
Undeterred by the absence of that chief, who, in
obedience to the royal command, had prudently
retired to France, Bothwell attempted the des-
perate enterprise of seizing the person of the
King, while residing in his metropolis. At the
dead of the night, followed by a band of Bor-
derers, he occupied the court of the palace of
Holyrood, and began to burst open the doors of
the royal apartments. The nobility, distrustful
of each other, and ignorant of the extent of the
conspiracy, only endeavoured to make good the
defence of their separate lodgings ; but darkness
and confusion prevented the assailants from pro-
fiting by their disunion. Melville, who was pre-
sent, gives a lively picture of the scene of disor-
der, transiently illuminated by the glare of pass-
ing torches ; while the report of fire-arms, the
clatter of armour, the din of hammers thundering
on the gates, mingled wildly with the war-cry of
the Borderers, who shouted incessantly, " Justic? !
Justice ! A Bothwell ! A Bothwell ! " The citi-
zens of Edinburgh at length beofan to assemble

152 INTRODUCTION.

for the defence of their sovereign ; and Both well
was compelled to retreat, which he did without
considerable loss. — Melville, p. 356. A simi-
lar attempt on the person of James, while resi-
ding at Faulkland, also misgave ; but the credit
which Bothwell obtained on the Borders, by
these bold and desperate enterprises, was incre-
dible. " All Tiviotdale," says Spottiswoode,
" ran after him;" so that he finally obtained his
object; and at Edinburgh, in 1593, he stood be-
fore James, an unexpected apparition, with his
naked sword in his hand. " Strike !" said James,
with royal dignity — " Strike, and end thy work I
I will not survive my dishonour." But Bothwell,
with unexpected moderation, only stipulated for
remission of his forfeiture, and did not even in-
sist on remaining at court, whence his party was
shortly expelled, by the return of the Lord Home,
and his other enemies. Incensed at this reverse,
Bothwell levied a body of four hundred cavalry,
and attacked the King's guard in broad day,
upon the Borough Moor near Edinburgh. The
ready succour of the citizens saved James from
falling once more into the hands of his turbulent

INTRODUCTIONr 153

subject.^ On a subsequent day, Bothwell met
the Laird of Cessford, riding near Edinburgh,
with whom he fought a single combat, which
lasted for two hours. ^ But his credit was now
fallen ; he retreated to England, whence he was
driven by Elizabeth, and then wandered to Spain
and Italy, where he subsisted, in indigence and
obscurity, on the bread which he earned by apos-
tatizing to the faith of Rome. So fell this agi-
tator of domestic broils, whose name passed into
a proverb, denoting a powerful and turbulent de-
magogue.^

' Spottiswoode says, the King awaited this charge with
firmness ; but Birrell avers, that he fled upon the gallop.
The same author, instead of the firm deportment of James,
when seized by Bothwell, describes " the king's majestic" as
" flying down the back stair, with his breeches in his hand,
in great fear." — Birrell, apiid Dalyell, p. 30. Such is
the difference betwixt the narrative of the courtly arch-
bishop, and that of the Presbyterian burgess of Edinburgh.

' This rencounter took place at Humbie, in East Lo-
thian. Bothwell was attended by a servant, called Gibson,
and Cessford by one of the Rutherfords, who was hurt in
the cheek. The combatants parted from pure fatigue ; for
the defensive armour of the times was so completely im-
penetrable, that the wearer seldom sustained much da-
mage by actual wounds.

^ Sir Walter Raleigh, in writing of Essex, then in pri-

154 INTRODUCTION.

While these scenes were passing in the metro-
polis, the Middle and Western Borders were fu-
riously agitated. The families of Cessford and
Fairnihirst disputed their right to the wardenr}- of
the Middle Marches, and to the provostry of Jed
burgh; and William Kerr of Ancram, a follo^\l.'l
of the latter, was murdered by the young chi^ ■
of Cessford, at the instigation of his mother. —
Spottiswoode, p. 383. But this was trifling,
compared to the civil war waged on the western
frontier, between the Johnstones and JVIaxwells,
of which there is a minute account in the intro-
duction to the ballad, entitled, " ^laxicelVs
Goodnight." Prefixed to that termed " Kinmont
Willie" the reader will find an account of the
last warden raids performed on the Border.

My sketch of Border history now draws to a
close. The accession of James to the Eno-lish

son, says, " Let the Queen hold Bothwcll wliile slie hatli
him." — MuRDiN, vol. ii. p. 812. It appears from Creicli-
ton's Memoir.'!, that Botlnvell's grandson, though so nearly
related to the royal family, actually rode a private in tlie

Scottish horse guards, in tlie reign of Charles 11 Edin-

hiirgfi, 1731, p. 42.

[See Notes to Old M,>rtai;/i/.—V.D.]

INTRODUCTION. 135

crown converted the extremity into the centre of
his kingdom.

The East Marches of Scotland were, at this
momentous period, in a state of comparative ci-
vihsation. The rich soil of Berv.ickshire soon
invited the inhabitants to the arts of agriculture.
Even in the days of Lesley, the nobles and barons
of the Merse differed in manners from the other
Borderers, administered justice with regularity,

and abstained from plunder and depredation

De morihus Scoioriim, p. 7. But on the Middle
and Western Marches, the inhabitants were
unrestrained moss-troopers and cattle-drivers,
" knowing no measure of law," says Camden,
*' but the length of their swords." The sterility of
the mountainous country which they inhabited,
offered little encouragement to industry ; and, for
the long series of centuries which we have hasti-
ly reviewed, the hands of rapine were never
there folded in inactivity, nor the sword of vio-
lence returned to the scabbard. Various pro-
clamations were in vain issued for interdicting
the use of horses and arms upon the West Bor-
der of England and Scotland.^ The evil was

* " Proclamation shall be made, that all inhabiting with-

155 INTRODUCTION.

found to require the radical cure of extirpation.
Buccleuch collected under his banners the most
desperate of the Border warriors, of whom he
formed a legion, for the service of the states of
Holland, who had as much reason to rejoice on
their arrival upon the continent, as Britain to
congratulate herself upon their departure. It
may be presumed, that few of this corps ever
returned to their native country. The clan of
Graeme, a hardy and ferocious set of freebooters,
inhabiting chiefly the Debateable Land, were,
by a very summary exertion of authority, trans-

ia Tynedale and Riddesdalc, in Northumberland ; Bew-
castledaJe, Willgavoy, the north part of Gilsland, Esk,
and Levcn, in Cumberland ; East and West Tividale,
Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewsdale, and Annerdale, in Scot-
land, (saving noblemen and gentlemen unsuspected ol"
felony and theft, and not being of broken clans, and tlieir
household servants, dwelling within those several places,
before recited,) shall put away all armour and weapons,
as well offensive as defensive, as jacks, spears, lances,
swords, daggers, steel-caps, hackbuts, pistols, plate-sleeves,
and such like ; and shall not keep any liorse, gelding, or
mare, above the vidue of fifty shillings sterling, or thirty
pounds Scots, upon tlie like pain of imprisonment." — Vro-
<^cedi)i<is oj the Border Cotumisxiimcrx, l<)0.5. lutroductioii
io History of Cumberland, p. I'i?.

INTRODUCTION. 157

ported to Ireland, and their return prohibited
under pain of death. Against other offenders,
measures equally arbitrary were without hesita-
tion pursued. Numbers of Border riders were
executed, without even the formality of a trial :
and it is even said, that, in mockery of justice,
assizes were held upon them after they had suf-
fered. For these acts of tyranny, see John-
ston, p. 374, 414, 39, 93. The memory of
Dunbar's legal proceedings at Jedburgh, are
preserved in the proverbial phrase, Jeddart Jus-
tice, which signifies, trial after execution.' By
this rigour, though sternly and unconscientiously
exercised, the Border marauders were, in the
course of years, either reclaimed or extermina-
ted; though nearly a century elapsed ere their

' A similar proverb in England of tlie same interpreta-
tion, is Lydford Law, derived from Lydford, a corporation
in Devonshire, where, it seems, the same irregular admi-
nistration of justice prevailed. A burlesque copy of verses
on this tovrn begins,

" I oft have lieard of Lydford Law,
How in tlie morn they hang and draw,
And sit in judgment after."

See Wescott's History of Devonshire.

158 INTRODUCTION.

manners were altogether assimilated to those of
their countrymen.^

> See tlie acts 18 Clia. II. ch. 3. and^.30 Cha. II. cli. 2.
against the Border Moss-troopers ; to whicli we may add
the following curious extracts from 2Ie?viirius Politicus, a
newspaper, published during the usurpation.

" Thitrsd/it/, Xovciuber 11, 1662.

" Edinburgh The Scotts and Moss-troopers have

again revived their old custom of robbing and murthering
the English, whether soldiers or otlier, upon all opportu-
nities, within these three weeks. We have had notice of
several robberies and murders, committed by them. Among
the rest, a lieutenant, and one other of Col. Overton's re-
giment, returning from England, were robbed not far from
Dunbarr. A lieutenant, lately master of the customs at
Kirkcudhriglit, was killed about twenty miles from this
place ; and four foot-soldiers of Col. Overton's were killed,
going to tlieir quarters, by some mosscrs, who, after tliey
had given them quarter, tied tlieir hands behind them, and
then threw them down a steep hill or rock, as it was re-
lated by a Scotclmian, who was witli them, but escaped."

Pmlcm " Octohcr 13, 1663 The Parliament, Octo-
ber 12, past an act, declaring, any person that shall disco-
ver any felon, or felons, (commonly called, or known. In
the name of Moss-troopers,) residing upon the Borders of
England and Scotland, sliall have a reward of ten pound
upon their conviction."

INTRODUCTIOX. 159

In these hasty sketches of Border history, I
have endeavoured to select such incidents, as
may introduce to the reader the character of the
Marchmen, more briefly and better than a formal
essay upon their manners. If I have been suc-
cessful in the attempt, he is already acquainted
Avith the mixture of courage and rapacity by
which they were distinguished, and has review-
ed some of the scenes in which they acted a
principal part. It is, therefore, only necessary
to notice, more minutely, some of their peculiar
customs and modes of life.

Their morality was of a singular kind. The
rapine, by which they subsisted, they accounted
lawful and honourable. Ever liable to lose their
whole substance, by an incursion of the English
on a sudden breach of truce, they cared little to
waste their time in cultivating crops to be reap-
ed by their foes. Their cattle was, therefore,
their chief property ; and these were nightly ex-
posed to the southern Borderers, as rapacious and
active as themselves. Hence robbery assiuned

160 INTRODUCTION.

the appearance of fair reprisal. The fatal privi-
lege of pursuing the marauders into their own
country, for recovery of stolen goods, led to
continual skirmishes. The warden also, himself
frequently the chieftain of a Border horde, when
redress was not instantly granted by the opposite
officer, for depredations sustained by his district,
was entitled to retaliate upon England by a
warden raid. In such cases, the moss-troopers,
who crowded to his standard, found themselves
pursuing their craft under legal authority, and
became the followers and favourites of the mili-
tary magistrate, whose ordinary duty it was to
check and suppress them. See the curious his-
tory of Geordie Bourne, App. Ko. II. Equally
unable and unwilling to make nice distinctions,
they were not to be convinced, that what was
to-day fair booty, was to-morrow a subject of
theft. National animosity usually gave an ad-
ditional stimulus to their rapacity ; although it
must be owned that their depredations extended
also to the more cultivated parts of their own
country.'

' The armorial bearings, adopted by many of the Border
tribes, show how liltlc thi-y were ashamed of their trade

INTRODUCTION. 161

Satchells, who lived when the old Border ideas
of meum and tuum were still in some force, endea-
vours to draw a very nice distinction betwixt a
freebooter and a thief; and thus sings he of the
Armstrong-s : —

" On that Border was the Armstrongs, able men ;
Somewhat unruly, and very ill to tame.
I would have none think that I call them thieves,
For, if I did, it would be arrant lies.

Near a Border frontier," in the time of war.
There's ne'er a man but he's a freebooter.

Because to all men it may appear,

The freebooter he is a volunteer ;

In the muster-rolls he has no desire to stay ;

He lives by purchase, he gets no pay.

It's most clear, a freebooter doth live in hazard's train,
A freebooter's a cavalier that ventures life for gain :

of rapine. Like Falstajf, they were " Gentlemen of the
night, minions of the moon," under whose countenance
they committed their depredations Hence, the emblem-
atic moons and stars so frequently charged in the arms
of Border families. Their mottos also bear an allusion to
their profession : — " Reparabit conina Phccbe," i. e. " We'll
have moonlight again," is that of the family, of Harden;
" Ye shall want, ere I want," that of Graustoun ; " Watch
weel," of Haliburton, &c.

VOL. I. L

162 INTRODUCTION.

But, since King James the Sixth to England went.
There has been no cause of grief;
And he that hath transgress'd since then
Is no Freebooter, but a Thief. "
. Hisiort/ of the Name of Scott.

The inhabitants of the inland counties did not
understand these subtile distinctions. Sir David
Lindsay, in the curious drama, published by Mr
Pinkerton, introduces, as one of his dramatis per-
soncjB, Common Thift, a Borderer, who is suppo-
sed to come to Fife to steal the Earl of Rothes'
best hackney, and Lord Lindsay's brown jennet.
Oppression also, (another personage there intro-
duced,) seems to be connected with the Borders :
for, finding himself in danger, he exclaims, —

" War God that I were sound and haill,

Now lyftit into Liddesdail ;

The Mers sowld fynd me beif and caiU,

What rack of breid ?
War I thair lyftit with my lyfe,
The devill sowld styk me with a knyfFe,
An' ever I cum agane in Fyfe,

TiU I were deid.' —
Pinkerton's Scottish Poems, vol. ii. p. 180.

Again, when Common Thift is brought to condign

INTRODUCTION. 163

punishment, he remembers his Border fnends in.
his dying speech :

" The widdefow wardanis tuik my geir.
And left me nowthir horse nor meir.
Nor erdly guid that me belangit ;
Now, walloway ! I mon be hangit.

Adew ! my bruthir Annan thieves.
That holpit me in my mischevis ;
Adew ! Grossars, Nicksonis, and Bells,
Oft have we fairne owrthreuch the fells :
Adew ! Robsons, Howis, and Pylis,
That in our craft has mony wilis :
Littlis, Trumbells, and Armestranges ;
Adew ! all theeves, that me belangis ;
Bailowes, Erewynis, and Elwandis,
Speedy of flicht, and slicht of handis ;
The Scotts of Eisdale, and the Gramis,
I haif na time to teU your nameis."

Pinkerton's Scottish Poems, vol. ii. p. 156.

When Common Tliift is executed, (which is per-
formed upon the stage,) Falset, (Falsehood,) who
is also brought forth for punishment, pronounces
over him the following elegy :

" Waes me for thee, gude Common Thift !
Was never man made more honest chift.
His living for to win :

164 INTRODUCTION.

Thair wes not, in all Liddcsdaill,
That ky mair craftily could steil,
Whar tliou hingis on that pin ! "

PiXKERTOx's Scottish Poems, vol. ii. p. 194.

Sir Richard Maitlaiul, incensed at the hokhiess
and impunity of the thieves of Liddesdale in his
time, has attacked them with keen iambics. His
satire, which, I suppose, had very little effect at
the time, forms No. III. of the Appendix to this
Introduction.

The Borderers had, in fact, little reason to
regard the inland Scots as their fellow-subjects,
or to respect the poMcr of the Crown. They
were frequently resigned, by express conijiact, to
the bloody retaliation of the lMi<ili>li, without
experiencing any assistance from their prince, and
his more immediate subjects. If they beheld him,
it was more frequently in the character of an
avenging judge, than of a ])rotecting sovereign.
Thev were in truth, during the time of jieace, a
land of outcasts, against whom tlie united poweis
of England and Scotland Mere often employed.
Hence, the men of the Bordei-s had little attach-
ment to their monarclis, whom they termed, in
derision, the Kings of Fife and Lothian ; ])r()-
vinccs which thev were not leii'allv entitled ti>

INTRODUCTION. 165

vuhabit,' and which, therefore, they pillaged with
as little remorse as if they had belonged to a fo-
reign country. This strange, precarious, and
adventurous mode of life, led by the Borderers,
was not without its pleasures, and seems, in all
probability, hardly so disagreeable to us, as the
monotony of regulated society must have been to
those who had been long accustomed to a state of
rapine. Well has it been remarked, by the elo-
quent Burke, that the shifting tides of fear and
hope, the flight and pursuit, the peril and escape,
alternate famine and feast, of the savage and the
robber, after a time render all course of slow,
steady, progressive, unvaried occupation, and the
prospect only of a limited mediocrity, at the end of
long labour, to the last degree tame, languid, and
insipid. The interesting nature of their exploits
may be conceived from the account of Camden.
" What manner of cattle-stealers they are that
inhabit these valleys in the Marches of both king-
"doms, John Lesly, a Scotchman himself, and
Bishop of Ross, will inform you. They sally out

' By an act 1587, c. 96, Borderers are expelled from the
inland counties, unless they can find security for their quiet
deportment.

166 INTRODUCTION.

of their own Borders, in the nio;ht, in troo})s,
through unfrequented by-wa}s, and many intri-
cate windings. All the daytime they refresh them-
selves and their horses in lurking holes they had
pitched upon before, till they arrive in the darlv
at those places they have a design upon. As soon
as they have seized upon the booty, they, in like
manner, return home in the night, through blind
ways, and fetching many a compass. The more
skilful any captain is to pass through those wild
deserts, crooked turnings, and deep precipices, in
the thickest mists and darkness, his reputation is
the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of
an excellent head. And they are so very cun-
ning, that they seldom have their booty taken
firom them, unless sometimes, v^hen, by the help
of blood-hounds, following them exactly upon the
track, they may chance to fall into the hands of
their adversaries. When being taken, they have so
much persuasive eloquence, and so many smooth
insinuating words at command, that if they do
not move their judges, nay, and even their ad-
versaries (notwithstanding the severity of their
natures) to have mercy, yet they incite them to
admiration and compassion." — Camden's Britan-

INTRODUCTION. 167

nia. The reader is requested to compare this
curious account, given by Lesley, with the ballad
called Hobhie Noble}

The inroads of the Marchers, when stimulated
only by the desire of plunder, were never marked
with cruelty, and seldom even with bloodshed,

1 The following tradition is also illustrative of Lesley's
account. Veitch of Dawyk, a man of great strength and
l)ravery, who flourished in the 16th century, is said by tra-
dition to have been upon bad terms with a neighbouring
proprietor, Tweedie of Drummelzier, dwelling also near the
source of Tweed. By some accidentaflock of Dawyk's sheep
had strayed over into Drummelzier's grounds, at the time
when Dickie of the Den, a Liddesdale outlaw, was making
his rounds in Tweeddale. Seeing this flock of sheep, he
drove them ofi" without ceremony. Next morning, Veitch,
perceiving his loss, summoned his servants and retainers,
laid a blood-hound upon the traces of the robber, by whom
they were guided for many miles, till, on the banks of Lid-
del, the dog stayed upon a very large hay-stack. The pur-
suers were a good deal surprised at the obstinate pause of
the blood-hound, till Dawyk puUed down some of the hay,
and discovered a large excavation, containing the robber
and his spoil. He instantly flew upon Dickie, and was
about to poniard him, when the marauder, with the address
noticed by Lesley, protested that he would never have
touched a cloot (hoof) of the booty, had he not taken them
for Drummelzier's property. This dexterous appeal to
Veitch's passions saved the life of the freebooter.

168 INTRODUCTION.

unless In the case of opposition. They held, that
property was common to all who stood in want
of it ; but they abhorred and avoided the crime
of unnecessary homicide. — Lesley, p. 63. This
was, perhaps, partly owing to the habits of inti-
macy betwixt the Borderers of both kingdoms,
notwithstanding their mutual hostility and reci-
procal depredations. A natural intercourse took
place between the English and Scottish Marchers,
•^t Border meetings, and during the short inter-
vals of peace. They met frequently at parties
of the chase and football ; and it required many
and strict regulations, on both sides, to prevent
them from forming intermarriages, and from cul-
tivating too close a degree of intimacy. — Scottish
Acts, 1587, c. 105 ; Wharton's Regulations, 6th
Edward J I. The custom, also, of paying black-
mail, or protection-rent, introduced a connexion
betwixt the countries; for a Scottish Borderer,
takinoflilack-mail from an Enij-lish inhabitant, was
not only himself bound to abstain from injuring
such person, but also to maintain his quarrel, and
recover his property, if carried oft" by others.
Hence, a union arose betwixt the parties, found-
ed upon mutual interest, which counteracted, in

INTRODUCTION. 1G9

many instances, the effects of national prejudice.
The similarity of their manners may be inferred
from that of their language. In an old mystery,
imprinted at London, 1654, a mendicant Borderer
is introduced, soliciting alms of a citizen and his
wife. To a question of the latter he replies, " Sa-
vying your honour, good maistress, I was born in
Redesdale, in Northumberlande, and come of a
wight riding surname, call'd the Robsons : gude
honeste men, and true, savying a little shiftyngc
for theyr livyng ; God help them, silly pure men."
The wife answers, " What doest thou here, in
this countrie ? me thinke thou art a Scot by thy
tongue." — Beggar. " Trowe me never mair then,
good deam ; I had rather be hanged in a withie
of a cow-taile, for thei are ever fare and fause." —
Ajypendix to Ben Jonson^s Sad Shepherd, Edit.
1783, p. 188. From the wife's observation, as
well as from the dialect of the beggar, we may
infer that there was little difference between the
Northumbrian and the border Scottish ; a circum-
stance interesting in itself, and decisive of the occa-
sional friendly intercourse among the Marchmen.
From all these combining circumstances arose the
lenity of the Borderers in their incursions, and

170 INTRODUCTION. i

i

the equivocal moderation which they soinetimL>
observed towards each other in open war.^

This humanity and moderation was, on certain ;
occasions, entirely laid aside by the Borderers.

* This practice of the Marchmen was observed and re-
probated by Patten. " Another manner have they [the
JEnglish Borderers] amoong them, of wearyng handkerchers
roll'd about their armes, and letters brouder'd [embroidered']
upon their cappes : they said themselves, the use thearof
was that ech of them might knowe his fellowe, and thear-
bye the sooner assemble, or in nede to ayd one another,
and such lyke respectes ; howbeit thear wear of the army
amoong us (some suspicious men perchance) that thought
thei used them for coUusion, and rather bycaus thei might
be knowen to the enemic, as the enemies are knowen to
them, (for thei have their markes too,) and so in conflict
either ech to spare oother, or gently eche to take other.
Indede, men have been mooved the rather to thinke so,
bycaus sum of their crosses [tlie English red crosses] were
so narrowe, and so singly set on, that a puffe of wj'nde
might blowe them from their breastes, and that thei wear
found right often talking with the Skottish prikkers within
less than their gad's \_spears] length asunder; and when
thei perceived thei had been espied, thei have begun one
to run at anoother, but so apparently perlassent [/« parlctf]
as the lookers on resembled their chasyng lyke the running
at base in an uplondish toun, whear the match is made for
a quart of good ale, or like the play in Kobin Cookes scole
\a fencing school], whear, bycaus the punios mey lerne, thei
strike few strokes but by assent and appointment. I hard

INTRODUCTION. 171

In the case of deadly feud, either against an
Englishman, or against any neighbouring tribe,
the whole force of the oflended clan was bent to
avenge the death of any of their number. Their

sum men say, it clid mooch augment their suspicion that
wey, bycaus at the battail they saw these prikkers so badly
demean them, more intending the taking of prisoners, than
the surety of victorye ; for while oother men fought, thei
fell to their prey ; that as thear wear but fewe of them but
brought home his prisoner, so wear thear many that had
six or seven." — Patten's Account of Somerset's Expedition,
apud Dalyell's Fragments, p. 76.

It is singular that, about this very period, the same
circumstances are severally animadverted upon by the stre-
nuous Scottishman, who wrote the Comjilaint of Scotland,
as well as by the English author above quoted: " There
is nothing that is occasione of your adhering to the opinion
of Ingland contrair your natife cuntre', hot the grit fami-
liarite that Inglis men and Scottes hes had on baith the
Boirdours, ilk ane with utheris, in merchandeis, in selling
and buying hors and nolt, and scheip, outfang and infang,
ilk ane amang utheris, the whilk famiharite is express con-
trar the lawis and consuetudis bayth of Ingland and Scot-
land. In auld tjTiiis it was determit in the artiklis of the
pace, be the twa wardanis of the Boirdours of Ingland and
Scotland, that there should be na famiharite betwix Scottis
men and IngUs men, nor marriage to be contrakit betwix
them, nor conventions on holydais at gammis and plays,
nor merchandres to be maid among them, nor Scottis men
till enter on Inglis grond, without the king of Ingland's

172 INTRODUCTION.

vengeance not only vented itself upon the homi-
cide and his family, but upon all his kindred, on
his whole tribe ; and on every one, in fine, whose
death or ruin could affect him with regret. —
Lesley, p. 63 ; Bo7'der Laics, passim ; Scottish
Acts, 1594, c. 231. The reader will find, in the
following collection, many allusions to this infer-
nal custom, which always overcame the Marcher's
general reluctance to shed human blood, and ren-
dered him remorselessly savage.

For fidelity to their word, Lesley ascribes high
praise to the inhabitants of the Scottish frontier.
Robert Constable (himself a traitorous spy) de-
scribes the outlaws, who were his guides into
Scotland, as men who would not hesitate to steal,

save conduct, nor Iiiglis men till enter on Scottis grond,
Avithont the King of Scotland's save conduct, howbeit
that ther war sure pace betwix the twa realmes. But tliir
sevyn yeir Ingane, thai statutis and artiklis of the pace are
adnuilit, for ther hes been as grit faniiliarite, and conven-
tions, and makyng of merchandrcis, on the Boirdours, this
lang tj'me betwix Inglis men and Scottis men, bayth in
pace and weir, as Scottisnien usis amang theme selfis with-
in the realme of Scotland : and sic faniiliarite hes bene the
cause that the Kyng of Ingland gat intelligence with divers
gentlemen of Scotland."

Complaint of Scotland, Edin. 1801, p. 1C4.

INTRODUCTION. ITS

yet would betray no man that trusted in them,
for all the gold in Scotland or France. " They
are my guides," said he; " and outlaws wh»
might gain their pardon by surrendering me, yet
I am secure of their fidelity, and have often proved
it." Indeed, when an instance happened of breach
of faith, the injured person, at the first Border
meeting, rode through the field, displaying a glove
(the pledge of faith) upon the point of his lance,
and proclaiming the perfidy of the person who
had broken his word. So great was the indigna-
tion of the assembly against the perjured criminal,
that he was often slain by his own clan, to wipe
out the disgrace he had brought on them. In
the same spirit of confidence, it was not unusual
to behold the victors, after an engagement, dis-
miss their prisoners upon parole, who never failed
either to transmit the stipulated ransom, or to
surrender themselves to bondage, if unable to do
so. But the virtues of a barbarous people being
founded, not upon moral principle, but upon the
dreams of superstition, or the capricious dictates
of ancient custom, can seldom be uniformly relied
on. We must not, therefore, be surprised to find
these very men, so true to their word in general.

174 INTRODDCTION.

i

using, upon other occasions, various resources of 1
cunning and chicane, against which the Border i
Laws were in vain directed.

The immediate rulers of the Borders were the
chiefs of the different clans, who exercised over
their respective septs a dominion partly patriarchal
and partly feudal. The latter bond of adherence
was, however, the more slender ; for, in the acts
regulating the Borders, we find repeated mention
of " Clannes having captaines and chieftaines,
whom on they depend, oft-times against the
willes of their landelordes." — Stat. 1587, c. 95,
and the roll thereto annexed. Of course, these
laws looked less to the feudal superior than to the
chieftain of the name, for the restraint of the dis-
orderly tribes ; and it is repeatedly enacted, that
the head of the clan should be first called upon to
deliver those of his sept, who should commit any
trespass, and that, on his failure to do so, he
should be liable to the injured party in full redress.
Ibidem, and Stat. 1574, c. 231. By the same
statutes, the chieftains and landlords, presiding
over Border clans, were obliged to find caution,
and to grant hostages, that they Mould subject
themselves to the due course of law. Such clans

INTRODUCTION. 175

as had no chieftain of sufficient note to enter bail
for their quiet conduct, became broken men, out-
lawed to both nations.

From these enactments, the power of the Bor-
der chieftains may be conceived ; for it had been
hard and useless to have punished them for the
trespass of their tribes, unless they possessed
over them unlimited authority. The abodes of
these petty princes by no means corresponded to
the extent of their power. We do not find, on
the Scottish Borders, the splendid and extensive
baronial castles which graced and defended the
opposite frontier. The Gothic grandeur of Aln-
wick, of Raby, and of Naworth, marks the weal-
thier and more secure state of the English nobles.
The Scottish chieftain, however extensive his
domains, derived no pecuniary advantage, save
from such parts as he could himself cultivate or
occupy. Payment of rent was hardly known on
the Borders, till after the Union of 1603.^ All

' Stowe, in detailing the happy consequences of the
union of the crowns, observes, " that the Northern Bor-
ders became as safe, and peaceable, as any part of the
entire kingdome, so as in the fourthe year of the King's
reigne, as well gentlemen and others inhabiting the places
aforesayde, finding the auncient waste ground to be very

176

INTRODUCTION.

that the landlord could gain, from those residing !
upon his estate, was their personal service in bat- I
tie, their assistance in labouring the land retained '
in his natural possession, some petty quit rents of j
a nature resembling the feudal casualties, and per- i
haps a share in the spoil which they acquired by
rapine.i This, with his herds of cattle and of
sheep, and with the hlack-mail which he exacted
from his neighbours, constituted the revenue of
the chieftain ; and, from funds so precarious, he
could rarely spare sums to expend in strengthen-
ing or decorating his habitation. Another reason

good and fruitcfull, began to contende in lawe abont tlieir
bounds, challenging then, that for their hercditarie right,
which formerly they disavowed, only to avoyde charge of
common defence."

' " As for the humours of the people (/. e. of Teviot-
dale,) they were both strong and warlike, as being inured
to war, and daily incursions, and the most part of the
heritors of the country gave out all their lands to their
tenants, for military attendance, upon rentals, and reserved
only some few mainses for their own sustenance, which
were laboured by their tenants, besides their service. They
paid an entry, a herauld, and a small rental-duty ; for tliere
were no rents raised here that were considerable, till King-
James went into England; yea, all along the Border."-^
Account of Roa-hurghshirc, hy Sir William Scott of Har~
den, and Kerr of Sunlaws, apud MAcrARLANE's MSS.
\

INTRODUCTION. 177

is found, in the Scottish mode of warfare. It was
early discovered, that the English surpassed their
neighbours in the arts of assaulting and defending
fortified places. The policy of the Scottish, there-
fore, deterred them from erecting upon the Bor-
ders buildings of such extent and strength, as,
being once taken by the foe, would have been
capable of receiving a permanent garrison.^ To
themselves, the woods and hills of their country
were pointed out by the great Bruce, as their
safest bulwarks ; and the maxim of the Douglasses,

* The royal castles of Roxburgh, Hermitage, Lochmaben,
&c., form a class of exceptions to this rule, being extensive
and well fortified. Perhaps we ought also to except the
baronial castle of Home. Yet, in 1455, the following petty
garrisons were thought sufficient for the protection of the
Border; two hundred spearmen, and as many archers,
upon the East and Middle Marches; and one hundred
spears, with a like number of bowmen, upon the Western
Marches. But then the same statute provides, " That
they are neare hand the Bordoure, are ordained to have
gud househaldes, and abulzied men as effeiris ; and to be
reddie at their principal place, and to pass, with the war-
1 danes, quhen and quhair they sail be charged." — Act of
Janies II., cap. 55, Of garrisons to be laid upon the Borders.
— Hence Buchanan has justly described, as an attribute
of the Scottish nation,

" Nee fossis, nee rrncris, patriam^ sed Marte tueri, "
VOL. I. M

INTRODUCTION.

tter to hear tht
the mouse cheep," was adopted by every Bor-
der chief. For these combined reasons, the re-
sidence of the chieftain was commonly a large
square battlemented ^ tower, called a lieep^ or ■peel,
placed on a precipice, or on the banks of a torrent,
and, if the ground would permit, surrounded by
a moat. In short, the situation of a Border house,
encompassed by woods, and rendered almost inac-
cessible by torrents, by rocks, or by morasses,
sufficiently indicated the pursuits and apprehen-
sions of its inhabitants. — " Locus horroris etvastcR
solitudinis, aptus ad prcedam, hcdrilis ad rapinam,
Jiahitatoribus sids lapis erat offensionis et petra
scandali, utpote qui stipendiis suis minime contenti,
totum de alieno, pa?vim de suo, jjossidebant — totius
j)rovi7icicB spolium." No wonder, therefore, that
James V., on approaching the castle of Loch-
wood, the ancient seat of the Johnstones, is said

' I heave observed a difference in architectnre betwixt
the English and Scottish towers. The latter usually have
upon the top a projecting battlement, with interstices, an-
ciently called inachicouks, betwixt the parapet and the wall,
through which stones or darts might be hurled upon the
assailants. Tliis kind of fortification is less common on
the South Border.

INTRODUCTION. 179

to have exclaimed, " that he who built it must
have been a knave in his heart." An outer wall,
with some light fortifications, served as a protec-
tion for the cattle at night. The walls of these
fortresses were of an immense thickness, and they
■could easily be defended against any small force ;
more especially, as, the rooms being vaulted, each
story formed a separate lodgement, capable of
being held out for a considerable time. On such
occasions, the usual mode adopted by the assail-
•ants, was to expel the defenders, by setting fire
to wet straw in the lower apartments. But the
Border chieftains seldom chose to abide in person
a siege of this nature ; and I have scarce obser-
ved a single instance of a distinguished baron
made prisoner in his own house.^ — Patten's
Expedition, p. 35. The common people resided
in paltry huts, about the safety of which they
were little anxious, as they contained nothing of
value. On the approach of a superior force, they
unthatched them, to prevent their Ijeing burned,
and then abandoned them to the foe Stowe's

' I ought to except the famous Dand Ker, who was
made prisoner in liis castle of Fairnihirst, after defending
it bravely against Lord Dacres, 24th September, 1523.

180 INTRODUCTION.

Chronicle, p. 665. Their only treasures were, a
fleet and active horse, with the ornaments which
their rapine had procured for the females of their
family, of whose gay appearance the Borderers
Tvere vain.

Some rude monuments occur upon the Borders,
the memorials of ancient valour. Such is the
Cross at Milholm, on the banks of the Liddle,
said to have been erected in memory of the Chief
of the Armstrongs, murdered treacherously by
Lord Soulis, while feasting in Hermitage castle.
Such also is that rude stone, now broken, and very
much defaced, placed upon a mount on the lands
of Haughhead, near the junction of the Kale and
the Teviot. The inscription records the defence
made by Hobbie Hall, a man of great strength
and courage, against an attempt of the powerful
family of Ker, to possess themselves of his small
estate.^

^ The rude strains of the inscription little correspond
with the gallantry of a

" village Hampden, who, with dauntless breast,

The little tyrant of his fields withstood. "
It is in these words : —

" Here Hohhie Hall boldly maintained his right,

'Gainst rei^ plain force, armed wi' uwles might.

INTRODUCTION. 181

The same simplicity marked their dress and
arms. Patten observes, that in battle the laird
could not be distinguished from the serf; all wear-
ing the same coat-armour, called a jack, and the
baron being only distinguished by his sleeves of
mail and his head-piece. The Borderers, in ge-
neral, acted as light cavalry, riding horses of a
small size, but astonishingly nimble, and trained
to move, by short bounds, through the morasses
with which Scotland abounds. Their offensive
weapons were, a lance of uncommon length ; a
sword, either two-handed, or of the modern light
size ; sometimes a species of battle-axe, called a
Jedburgh-staff ; and, latterly, dags or pistols. Al-
though so much accustomed to move on horseback,
that they held it even mean to appear otherwise,
the Marchmen occasionally acted as infantry ; nor
were they inferior to the rest of Scotland in form-
ing that impenetrable phalanx of spears, whereof

Full thirty pleuglis, harnes'd in all their gear,
Could not his valiant noble heart malie fear !
But wl' his sword he cut the foremost's soam
In two ; and drove baith pleughs and ploughmen home.
1620."

Soam means the iron links which fasten a yoke of oxen to

the plough.

182 INTRODUCTION. j

it is said, by an English historian, that " sooner ;
shall a bare linger pierce through the skin of an
angry hedge-hog, than any one encounter tlie
brunt of their pikes." At the battle of Melrose.
for example, Buccleuch's army fought upon foot.
But the habits of the Borderers fitted them parti-
cularly to distinguish themselves as light cavalry ;
and hence the name of prickers and hobi/lers, so
frequently applied to them. At the blaze of their
beacon fires, they were wont to assemble ten thou-
sand horsemen in the course of a single day. Thus
rapid in their warlike preparations, they were alike
ready for attack and defence. Each individual
carried his own provisions, consisting of a small
bag of oatmeal, and trusted to plunder, or the
chase, for eking out his precarious repast. Beau-
gue remarks, that nothing surprised the Scottish
cavalry so much as to see their French auxiliaries
encumbered with baggage-waggons, and attended
by commissaries. Before joining battle, it seems
to have been the Scottish practice to set fire to the
litter of their camp, while, under cover of the
smoke, the lioht/krs, or Border ca^•alry, executed
their mananivres. — There is a curious account of
the battle of Mitton, fought in the year 1319, in

INTRODUCTION. 183

a valuable MS. Clironide of England, in the col-
lection of the Marquis of Douglas,' from which
this stratagem seems to have decided the engage-
ment. " In meyn time, while- the wer thus last-
yd, the kynge went agane into Skotlonde, that
hitte was wonder for to wette, and bysechd the
towne of Barwick ; but the Skottes went over
the water of Sold, that was iii myle from the
hoste, and prively they stole away by nyghte, and
come into England, and robbed and destroyed all
that they myght, and spared no manner thing til
that they come to Yorke. And, whan the Eng-
lischemen, that were left at home, herd this tiding,
all tho that myght well travell, so well monkys
and priestis, and freres, and chanouns, and secu-
lars, come and met with the Skottes at Mytone
of Swale, the xii day of October. Alias, for sor-
row for the Englischemen ! housbondmen, that
could nothing in wer, ther were quelled and
drenchyd in an arm of the see. And hyr chyf-
taines, Sir William Milton, Ersch-bishop of
Yorke, and the Abbot of Selby, wdth her stedes,
fled and come into Yorke ; and that was her owne

' Now Duke of Hamilton, 1830.

184 INTRODUCTION.

folye that they had that mischaunce ; for the
passyd the water of Swale, and the Skottes srt
on fiir three stalkes of hey, and the smoke there-
of was so huge, that the Eng-lisehemen might not
see the Skottes; and whan the Englischemeu
were gon over the water, tho cam the Skottes,
with hir wyng, in maner of a sheld, and come
toward the Englisehemen in ordour. And the
Englischemen fled for unnethe they had any use
of armes, for the Kyng had hem al almost lost att
the sege of Barwick. And the Scotsmen hohylers
went betwene the brigge and the Englischemen ;
and when the gret hoste them met, the Eng-
lischemen fled between the liohylers and the gret
hoste ; and the Englischemen wer ther quelled,
and he that myght m end over the water were
saved, but many were drowned. Alas ! for there
were slayn many men of religion, and seculars,
and priestis, and clerks, and with much sorwe
the Ersch-bishope scaped from the Skottes ; and,
therefore, the Skottes called that battel the llliitc
Battelir

For smaller predatory expeditions, the Border-
ers had signals, and j)laces of rendezvous, peculiar
to each tribe. If the party set forward before

INTRODUCTION. 185

all the members had joined, a mark, cut in the
turf, or on the bark of a tree, pointed out to the
stragglers the direction which the main body had
pursued.^ Their warlike convocations were, also,
frequently disguised, under pretence of meetings
for the purpose of sport. The game of foot-ball,
in particular, which was anciently, and still con-
tinues to be, a favourite Border sport, was the
means of collecting together large bodies of moss-
troopers, previous to any military exploit. When
Sir Robert Carey was Warden of the East
Marches, the knowledge that there was a great
match at foot-ball at Kelso, to be frequented by
the principal Scottish riders, was sufficient to ex-
cite his vigilance and his apprehension.^ Previous
also to the murder of Sir John Carmichael, (see
Notes on the Raid of the Meidsioire,) it appeared

' In the parish of Linton, in Roxburghshire, there is a
circle of stones, surrounding a smooth plot of turf, called
the Tryst, or place of appointment, which tradition avers
to have been the rendezvous of the neighbouring warriors.
The name of the leader was cut in the turf, and the ar-
rangement of the letters announced to his followers the
course which he had taken. See Statistical Account of the
Parish of Linto?i.

- See Appendix.

186 INTRODUCTION.

at the trial of the perpetrators, that they had
assisted at a grand foot-ball meeting, where the
crime was concerted.

Upon the religion of the Borderers there can
very little be said. We have already noticed, that
they remained attached to the Roman Catholic
foith rather longer than the rest of Scotland. This
probably arose from a total indifference upon the
subject ; for we nowhere find in their character
the respect for the church, M'hich is a marked fea-
ture of that religion. In 1528, Lord Dacre com-
plains heavily to Cardinal Wolsey, that, having
taken a notorious freebooter, called Dyk Irwen,
the brother and friends of the outlaw had, in re-
taliation, seized a man of some property, and a
relation of Lord Dacre, called Jeffrey Middleton,
as he returned from a pilgrimage to St Ninian's,
in Galloway ; and that, notwithstanding the sanc-
tity of his character as a true pilgrim, and the
Scottish monarch's safe conduct, they continued
to detain him in their fastnesses, until he should
redeem the said arrant thief, Dyk Irwen. The ab-
beys, which w^ere planted upon the Border, neither
seem to have been much respected by the English,
nor by the Scottish barons. They were repeat-

INTRODUCTION. 187

edly burned by the former, in the course of the
Border wars, and by the latter they seem to have
been regarded chiefly as the means of endowing-
a needy relation, or the subject of occasional plun-
der. Thus, Andrew Home of Fastcastle, about
1488, attempted to procure a perpetual feu of
certain possessions belonging to the Abbey of
Coldinghame ; and being baffled, by the King
bestowing that opulent benefice upon the royal
chapel at Stirling, the Humes and Hepburns
started into rebellion ; asserting, that the priory
should be conferred upon some younger son of
their families, according to ancient custom. After
the fatal battle of Flodden, one of the Kers tes-
tified his contempt for clerical immunities and pri-
vileges, by expelling from his house the Abbot
of Kelso. These bickerings betwixt the clergy
and the barons w'ere usually excited by disputes,
about their temporal interest. It was common
for the churchmen to grant lands in feu to the
neighbouring gentlemen, who, becoming their
vassals, were bound to assist and protect them."^

' These vassals resembled, in some degree, the Vidames
in France, and the Vogten, or Vizedomen, of the German-
abbeys; but the system was never carried regularly into-

188 INTRODUCTION.

But, as the possessions and revenues of the be-
nefices became thus intermixed with those of the
laity, any attempts rigidly to enforce the claims-
of the church were usually attended by the most '■
scandalous disputes. A petty warfare was car--
ried on for years, betwixt James, Abbot of Dry-
burgh, and the family of Halliburton of Mertoun,
or Newraains, who held some lands from that ab-
bey. These possessions were, under various pre-
texts, seized and laid waste by both parties ; and
some bloodshed took place in the contest, betwixt
the lay vassals and their spiritual superior. The
matter was, at length, thought of sufficient im-
portance to be terminated by a reference to his
Majesty; whose decree arbitral, dated at Stirling,
the Stli of May, 1535, proceeds thus: " Where-
as we have been advised and know tlie said gen-
tlemen, the Hallihurtons, to be leal and true
honest men, long servants unto the saide abl)eve,
for the saide landis, stout men at armes, and goode
Borderers agaiTist Iiigland ; We doe therefore de-
cree and ordain, that they sail l)e re|)0ssess'd, and
bruik and enjoy the landis and steediiigs tliey had

(fffoct in Britain, and tliis circumstanoo f'acilitatnl tlio dis-
solution of tlie religious houses.

INTRODUCTION. 189

of the saide abbeye, paying the use and wonte :
and that they sail be goode servants to the said
venerabil father, like as they and their predeces-
sours were to the said venerabil father, and his
predeeessours, and he a good master to them." ^
It is unnecessary to detain the reader with other
instances of the discord which prevailed anciently
upon the Borders, betwixt the spiritual shepherd
and his untractable flock.

^ This decree was followed by a marriage betwixt the
abbot's daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, and Walter Hallibur-
ton, one of the family of Newmains. But even this alli-
ance did not secure peace between the venerable father
and his vassals. The offspring of the marriage was an only
daugliter, named Elizabeth Halliburton. As this young
lady was her father's heir, the Halliburtons resolved that
she should marry one of her cousins, to keep her property
in the clan. But as this did not suit the views of the abbot,
he carried off by force the intended bride, and married her,
at Stirling, to Alexander Erskine, a brother of the Laird
of Balgony, a relation and follower of his own. From this
marriiige sprung the Erskines of Shielfield. This exploit
of the abbot revived the feud betwixt him and the Halli-
burtons, which only ended with the dissolution of the ab-
bey MS. Hidory of Halliburton Family, penes editorem —

[This history of the family, a principal branch of which Sir
W. S. himself represented, was printed (not published) by
him, with an Introduction and Notes, in 1820. — Ed.]

190 INTRODUCTION.

The Reformation was late of finding its way
into the Border wilds ; for, while the religious
and civil dissensions were at the height in 1568,
Drury writes to Cecil, — " Our trusty neighbours
of Teviotdale are holden occupied only to attend
to the pleasure and calling of their own heads, to
make some diversion in this matter." The influ-
ence of the reformed preachers, among the Bor-
derers, seems also to have been but small ; for,
upon all occasions of dispute with the kirk, James
VI. was wont to call in their assistance. — Cal-
DERWOOD, p. 129.

We learn from a curious passage in the life of
Richard Cameron, a fonatical preacher during the
time of what is called the " persecution," that
some of the Borderers retained to a late period
their indifference about religious matters. After
having been licensed at Haughhead, in Teviot-
dale, he was, according to his biographer, sent
first to preach in Annandale. " He said, ' how
can I go there ? I know what sort of people thoy
are.' — ' But,' jNIr Welch said, ' go your way,
Ritchie, and sot tlie fire of hell to their tails.'
He went ; and, the first da\', lie ])reaclu'd ujiou
that text, Hoio shall I put thee amony the children.

INTRODUCTION. 191

&c. In the application, he said, ' Put you among
the children ! the offspring of thieves and robbers !
■\ve have all heard of Annandale thieves.' Some
of them got a merciful cast that day, and told
afterwards, that it was the first field-meeting they
ever attended, and that they went out of mere
curiosity, to see a minister preach in a tent, and
people sit on the ground." — Life of Richard Ca-
meron}

Cleland, an enthusiastic Cameronian, lieute-
nant-colonel of the regiment levied after the Re-
volution from among that wild and fanatical sect,
claims for the wandering preachers of his tribe the
merit of converting the Borderers. He intro-
duces a cavalier haranguing the Highlanders, and
ironically thus guarding them against the fanatic
divines :

" If their doctrine there get rooting.
Then, farewell theift, the best of booting.

' This man was for a short time chaplain in the family of
Sir Walter Scott of Harden, who attended the meetings
of the indulged Presbyterians ; but Cameron, considering
this conduct as a compromise with the foul fiend Episco-
pacy, was dismissed from the fomily. He was slain in a
skirmish at Airdsmoss, bequeathing his name to the sect
of fanatics still called Cameronians.

192 INTRODUCTION. j

And this ye see is very clear, J

Dayly experience makes it appear ;

For instance, lately on the Borders,

Where there was nought but theft and murders.

Rapine, cheating, and resetting,

Slight of hand in fortunes getting, —

Their designation, as ye ken,

Was all along the Taldng Men.

Now, rebels more prevails with words.

Than drawgoons does with guns and swords,

So that their bare preaching now

Makes the rush-bush keep the cow.

Better than Scots or English kings

Could do by kilting them with strings.

Yea, those that were the greatest rogues.

Follows them over hills and bogues.

Crying for mercy and for preaching.

For they'll now hear no others teaching."

Cleland's Poems, 1697, p. 30.

The poet of the Whigs might exaggerate the
success of their teachers ; yet it must be owned,
that the doctrine of insubordination, joined to
their vagrant and hiwless habits, was calculated
strongly to conciliate Border hearers.

But, though the church, in these frontier coun-
ties, attracted little veneration, no part of Scot-
land teemed with superstitious fears luid obser-

INTRODUCTION. 193

vances more than tliey did. " The Dalesmen,"^
says Lesley, " never count then- beads with such
earnestness as when they set out upon a preda-
tory expedition." Penances, the composition be-
twixt guilt and conscience, were also frequent
upon the Borders. Of this we have a record in
many bequests to the church, and in some more
lasting monuments; such as the Tower of Re-
pentance, near Hoddam Castle, in Dumfries-
shire, and, according to vulgar tradition, the
church of Linton," in Roxburghshire. In the Ap-

' An epithet bestowed upon the Borders, from the names
of the various districts ; as TeviotdiJe, Liddesdale, Eskdale,
Ewsdale, Annandale, &c. Hence, an old ballad distin-
guishes the north as the country,

" Where every river gives name to a dale."

Ex-ale-tation of Ale.

* This small church is founded upon a little hill of sand,
in which no stone of the size of an egg is said to have been
found, although the neighbouring soil is sharp and gravelly.
Tradition accounts for this, by informing us, that the foun-
dresses were two sisters, upon whose account much blood
had been spilt on that spot ; and that the penance imposed
on the fair causers of the slaughter, was an order from the
Pope to sift the sand of the hill, upon whicli their church
was to be erected. This story may, perhaps, have some
foundation ; for in the churchyard was discovered a single

VOL. I. N

194 INTRODUCTION-

pendix to this Introduction, No. IV., the reader
will find a curious league, or treaty of peace, be-
twixt two hostile clans, by which the heads of
each became bound to make the four pilgrimages
of Scotland, for the benefit of the souls of those
of the opposite clan, who had fallen in the feud.
These were superstitions, flowing immediately
from the nature of the Catholic religion ; but
there was, upon the Border, no lack of others of
a more general nature. Such was the universal
belief in spells, of which some traces may yet re-
main in the Avild parts of the country. These
were common in the days of the learned Bishop
Nicolson, who derives them from the time of the
Pagan Danes. " This conceit was the more
heightened, by reflecting upon the natural su-
perstition of our Borderers at this day, who were
much better aquainted with, and do more firmly
believe, their old legendary stories, of fairies and
witches, than the articles of their creed. And to
convince me, yet farther, that they are not utter
strangers to the black art of their forefathers, I
met with a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who

grave, containing no fewer than fifty skulls, most of which
bore the marks of having been cleft by violence.

INTRODUCTION. 195

showed me a book of spells and magical receipts,
taken, two or three days before, in the pocket of
one of our moss-troopers ; wherein, among many
other conjuring feats, was prescribed a certain
remedy for an ague, by applying a few barba-
rous characters to the body of the party distem-
pered. These, methought, were very near a-kin
to Wormius's Ram Buner, which, he says, differ-
ed wholly in figure and shape from the common
7mjicB. For, though he tells us that these Bam
Muner were so called, Eo quod molestias, dolores^
niorhosque hisce injiigere inimicis soliti sunt inagi ;
yet his great friend, Arng. Jonas, more to our
purpose, says, that — His etiam usi sunt ad bene-
faciendum^ medicandum tarn animi quam corporis
morhis ; atque ad ipsos cacodcemones pellendos et
fugandos. I shall not trouble you with a draught
of this spell, because I have not yet had an op-
portunity of learning whether it may not be an
ordinary one, and to be met with, among others
of the same nature, in Paracelsus, or Cornelius
Agrippa." — Letter from Bishop Nicolson to Mr
Walker ; vide Camderts Brittamiia, Cumberland.
Even in the Editor's younger days, he can re-
member the currency of certain spells, for curing-

196 INTRODUCTION.

sprains, burns, or dislocations, to which popular
credulity ascribed unfailing efficacy.^ Charms,
however, against spiritual enemies, were yet
more common than those intended to cure cor-
poreal complaints. This is not surprising, as a
fantastic remedy well suited an imaginary disease .
There were, upon the Borders, many conse-
crated wells, for resorting to which the peoplc">
credulity is severely censured by a worthy phy-
sician of the seventeenth century, who himself
believed in a shower of living herrings having
fallen near Dumfries. " Many run supersti-
ti'ously to other wells, and there obtain, as they
imagine, health and advantage ; and there they
offer bread and cheese, or money, by throwing
them into the well." In another part of the MS.
occurs the following passage : " In the bounds
of the lands of Eccles, belonging to a lineage of

' Among these ma}' be reckoned the supposed influence
of Irish earth, in curing the poison of adders, or other ve-
nomous reptiles. — This virtue is extended by popular cre-
dulity to the natives, and even to the animiils, of Hibernia.
A gentleman (who was educated to medicine, by the way),
bitten by some reptile, so as to occasion a great swelling,
seriously assured tlic Editor, that he ascribed his cure to
putting tlic aftccted finger into tlie mouth of an Irish mare.

INTRODUCTION. 197

tlie name of Maitland, there is a loch called the
Dowloch, of old resorted to with much supersti-
tion, as medicinal both for men and beasts, and
that with such ceremonies, as are shrewdly sus-
pected to have been begun with witchcraft, and
increased afterwards by magical directions : For,
burying of a cloth, or somewhat that did relate
to the bodies of men and women, and a shackle,
or tether, belonging to cow or horse, and these
being cast into the loch, if they did float, it was
taken for a good omen of recovery, and a part
of the water carried to the patient, though to
remote places, without saluting or speakii]g to
any they met by the way ; but, if they did sink,
the recovery of the party was hopeless. This
custom was of late much curbed and restrained ;
but since the discovery of many medicinal foun-
tains near to the place, the vulgar, holding that
it may be as medicinal as these are, at this time
begin to re-assume their former practice." — Ac-
count of Presbytery of Penpont, in Macfarlane^s
MSS.

The idea, that the spirits of the deceased re-
turn to haunt the place, where on earth they have
suffered, or have rejoiced, is, as Dr Johnson has
observed, common to the popular creed of all

198 INTRODUCTION.

nations.^ The just and noble sentiment, implant-
ed in our bosoms by the Deity, teaches us that
we shall not slumber for ever, as the beasts that
perish. Human vanity, or credulity, chequers,
with its own inferior and baser colours, the noble
prospect, which is alike held out to us by philo-
sophy and by religion. We feel, according to
the ardent expression of the poet, that we shall
not wholly die ;~ but from hence we vainly and
weakly argue, that the same scenes, the same
passions, shall delight and actuate the disembo-
died spirit, which affected it while in its tenement
of clay. Hence the popular belief, that the soul
Imunts the spot where the murdered body is in-
terred ; that its appearances are directed to bring
down vengeance on its murderers; or that, having
left its terrestrial form in a distant clime, it glides
before its former friends, a pale spectre, to warn
them of its decease. Such tales, the foundation
of which is an argument from our present feel-
ings to those of the spiritual world, form the broad
and universal basis of the popidar superstition
regarding departed spirits ; against which, reason
has striven in vain, and universal experience has

* See Rassclas ^ Non omnis inoriar. — IIor.

INTRODUCTION. 199

offered a disregarded testimony. These legends
are peculiarly acceptable to barbarous tribes; and,
on the Borders, they were received with most un-
bounded faith. It is true, that these supernatural
adversaries were no longer opposed by the sword
and battle-axe, as among the unconverted Scan-
dinavians. Prayers, spells, and exorcisms, par-
ticularly in the Greek and Hebrew languages,
were the weapons of the Borderers, or rather of
their priests and cunning men, against their aerial
enemy.^ The belief in ghosts, which has been

' One of the most noted apparitions is supposed to haunt
Spedlin's Castle near Lochmaben, the ancient baronial
residence of the Jardines of Applegirth. It is said that, in
exercise of his territorial jurisdiction, one of the ancient
lairds had imprisoned, in the Massy More, or dungeon of
the castle, a person named Porteous. Being called sud-
denly to Edinburgh, the laird discovered, as he entered the
West Port, that he had brought along with him the key of
the dungeon. Struck with the utmost horror, he sent back
his servant to relieve the prisoner, but it was too late.
The wretched being was found lying upon the steps de-
scending from the door of the vault, starved to death. In
the agonies of hunger, he had gnawed the flesh from one
of his arms. That his spectre should haunt the castle, was
a natural consequence of such a tragedy. Indeed, its visits
became so frequent, that a clergyman of eminence was em-
ployed to exorcise it. After a contest of twenty-four hours.

200 INTRODUCTION.

well termed the last lingering phantom of super-
stition, still maintains its ground upon the Bor-
ders.

It is unnecessary to mention the superstitious

the man of art prevailed so far as to confine the goblin to
the Massy More of the castle, where its shrieks and cries
are still heard. A part, at least, of the spell, depends upon
the preservation of the ancient black-lettered Bible, em-
ployed by the exorcist. It was some years ago thought
necessary to have this Bible rebound; but as soon as it
was removed from the castle, the spectre commenced his
nocturnal orgies, with ten -fold noise ; and it is verily be-
lieved that he would have burst from his confinement, had
not the sacred volume been speedily replaced.

A Mass John Scott, minister of Peebles, is reported to
have been the last renowned exorciser, and to have lost his
life in a contest with an obstinate spirit. This was owing
to the conceited rashness of a young clergyman, who com-
menced tlie ceremony of laying the ghost before the arrival
of Mass John. It is the nature, it seems, of spirits disem-
bodied, as well as embodied, to increase in strength and
presumption, in proportion to the advantages which they
may gain over the opponent. The young clergyman losing
courage, the horrors of the scene were increased to such
a degree, that, as Mass John approached the house in
which it passed, he beheld the slates and tiles flying from
the roof, as if dispersed with a whirlwind. At his entry, he
perceived all the wax-tapers (the most essential instruments
of conjuration) extinguished, except one, which already
burned blue in the socket. The arrival of the experienced

INTRODUCTION. 201

belief in witchcraft, wliicli gave rise to so mucli
cruelty and persecution during the seventeenth
century. There were several executions upon
the Borders for this imaginary crime, which was
usually tried, not by the ordinary judges, but by
a set of country gentlemen, acting under com-
mission from the Privy Council.^

Besides these grand articles of superstitious
belief, the creed of the Borderers admitted the
existence of sundry classes of subordinate spirits,
to whom were assigned peculiar employments.
The chief of these were the Fairies, concerning
whom the reader will find a long dissertation in
Volume Second. The Brownie formed a class
of beings, distinct in habit and disposition from

sage changed the scene : he brought the spirit to reason ;
but unfortunately, while addressing a word of advice or cen-
sure to his rash brother, he permitted the ghost to obtain
the last word ; a circumstance which, in all colloquies of this
nature, is strictly to be guarded against. This fatal over-
sight occasioned his falling into a lingering disorder, of which
he never recovered,

A curious poem, upon the laying of a ghost, forms article
No. V. of the Appendix.

' I have seen, penes Hugh Scott, Esq. of Harden, tlie
record of the trial of a witch, who was burned at Ducove.
She was tried in the manner above mentioned.

202 INTRODUCTION.

the freakish and mischievous elves. He was
meagre, shaggy, and wild in his appearance.
Thus Cleland, in his satire against the High-
landers, compares them to

" Faunes, or Broivnies, if ye will,
Or Satyres come from Atlas Hill."

In the daytime, he lurked in remote recesses
of the old houses which he delighted to haunt ;
and, in the night, sedulously employed himself in
discharging any laborious task which he thought
might be acceptable to the family, to whose ser-
vice he had devoted himself. His name is pro-
bably derived from the Portuni, whom Gervase
of Tilbury describes thus : — " Ecce enim in An-
glia damones quosdam habent, dcemones, inquam,
nescio dixerim, an secretcB et ignota generationis
effigies, quos Galli Neptunos, Angli Portunos no-
minant. Istis insitum est quod simpUcitatem for-
tunatorum colonorum amplectuntur, et cum noctur-
nas propter domesticas operas agunt vigilias, suhito
clausis januis ad ignem calijiunt, et ranuncidas ex
sinu projectas, prunis impositas comedunt, senili
vidtu, facie corrugata, statura pusilli, dimidium
poinds non habentes. PannicuUs concertis induun-
tur, et si quid gestandiim in domo fuerit, aut one'

INTRODUCTION. 203

rosi operis agendum, ad operandum sejungunt, citius
humana facilitate expediunt. Id illis insitum est,
tit ohsequi possint et ohesse non possint." — Otia.
Imp. p. 980. In every respect, saving only the
feeding upon frogs, which was probably an attri-
bute of the Gallic spirits alone, the above descrip-
tion corresponds with that of the Scottish Brownie,
whose very name is a corruption, in all probabili-
ty, of Portunus. But the Brownie, although, like
Milton's lubbar fiend, he loves to stretch him-
self by the fire,^ does not drudge from the hope

^ " how the drudging goblin swet,

To earn the cream-bowl duly set ;
When, in one night, ere glimpse of morn,
His shadowy flail had thresh'd the corn,
That ten day-lab'rers could not end ;
Then lies him down the lubbar fiend,
And, stretch'd out all the chimney's length,
Basks at the fire his hairy strength ;
And, crop-full, out of doors he flings,
Ere the first cock his matin rings."

Ij'AUegro.

When the menials in a Scottish family protracted their
vigils around the kitchen fire, Brownie, weary of being ex-
cluded from the midnight hearth, sometimes appeared at the
door, seemed to watch their departure, and thus admonish-
ed them : — " Gang a' to your beds, sirs, and dinnaput out
the wee grieshoch [embers.]"

204

INTRODUCTION.

of recompense. On the contrary, so delicate is
his attachment, that the offer of reward, but par-
ticularly of food, infallibly occasions his disap-
pearance for ever.^ We learn from Olaus Mag-

* It is told of a Brownie, who haunted a Border famil}-,
now extinct, that the lady having fallen unexpectedly in
labour, and the servant, who was ordered to ride to Jed-
burgh for the sage-femme, showing no great alertness in set-
ting out, the familiar spirit slipt on the greatcoat of the
lingering domestic, rode to the town on the laird's best
horse, and returned with the midwife en croupe. During
the short space of his absence, the Tweed, which they
must necessarily ford, rose to a dangerous height. Brownie,
who transported his charge with all the rapidity of the
ghostly lover of Lenore, was not to be stopped by this ob-
stacle. He plunged in with the terrified old lady, and land-
ed her in safety where her services were wanted. Having
put the horse into the stable, (where it was afterwards
found in a woful plight,) he proceeded to the room of tlie
servant, wliose duty he had discharged ; and, finding him
just in the act of drawing on his boots, he administered to
him a most merciless drubbing with his own horsewhip.
Such an important service excited the gratitude of tlie laird ;
who, understanding that Brownie had been heard to ex-
press a wish to have a green coat, ordered a vestment of
that colour to be made and left in his haunts. Brownie
took away the green coat, but was never seen more. Wv.
may suppose, tliat, tired of his domestic drudgery, lie went
in his new livery to join the fairies — See Ajypoidix, No.
VI.

INTRODUCTION. 205

nus, that spirits, somewhat similar in their opera-
tions to the Brownie, were supposed to haunt
the Swedish mines. The passage, in the trans-
lation of 1658, runs thus : " This is collected in
briefe, that in northerne kingdomes there are
great armies of devils, that have their services,
which they perform with the inhabitants of these
countries : but they are most frequently in rocks
and mines, where they break, cleave, and make
them hollow : Avhich also thrust in pitchers and
buckets, and carefully fit wheels and screws,
whereby they are drawn upwards ; and they shew
themselves to the labourers, when they list, like
phantasms and ghosts." It seems no improbable

The last Brownie known in Ettrick Forest, resided in
Bodsbeck, a wild and solitary spot, near the head of Moffat
Water, where he exercised his functions undisturbed, till
the scrupulous devotion of an old lady induced her to hire
him away, as it was termed, by placing in his haunt a por-
ringer of milk and a piece of money. After receiving this
liint to depart, he was heard the whole night to howl and
cry, " Farewell to bonnie Bodsbeck!" which he was com-
pelled to abandon for ever. 1802.

Mr Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, has written a tale, in
which the Brownie of Bodsbeck is explained a,s being one
of the fugitive Cameronians. 1830.

206 INTRODUCTION,

conjecture, tliat the Brownie is a legitimate de-
scendant of tlie Lar Faviiliaris of tlie ancients.
A being, totally distinct from those hitherto
mentioned, is the Bogle, or Goblin ; a freakish
spirit, who delights rather to perplex and frighten
mankind, than either to serve, or seriously to
hurt them. This is the Esprit Toilet of the
French ; and Puck^ or Rohin Goodfelloiv, though
enlisted by Shakspeare among the fairy band of
Oheron, properly belongs to this class of phan-
toms. Shelhjcoat, a spirit, who resides in the
waters, and has given his name to many a rock
and stone upon the Scottish coast, belongs also
to the class of bogles. ^ "When he appeared, he

' One of his pranks is thus narrated : Two men, in a
very dark night, approaching the banks of the Ettrick,
heard a doleful voice from its waves repeatedly exclaim —
" Lost! Lost!" They followed the sound, wliich seemed
to be the voice of a drowning person, and, to their infinite;
astonishment, they found that it ascended the river. Still
they continued, during a long and tempestuous night, to
follow the cry of the malicious sprite ; and arriving, before
morning's dawn, at the very sources of the river, the voice
was now heard descending tlie Oj)posite side of the moun-
tain in which they arise. Tlie fatigm^d and di^ludod tra-
vellers now relinquished the pursuit ; and had no sooner

INTRODUCTION. 207

seemed to be decked with marine productions,
and, in particular, witli shells, whose clattering
announced his approach. From this circum-
stance he derived his name. He may, perhaps, be
identified with the goblin of the northern English,
which, in the towns and cities, Durham and New-
castle for example, had the name of Barguest ;
but, in the country villages, was more frequently
termed Brag. He usually ended his mischievous
frolics with a horse-laugh.

Shellycoat must not be confounded with Kelpy^
a water-spirit also, but of a much more powerful
and malignant nature. His attributes have been
the subject of a poem in Lowland Scottish, by
the learned Dr Jamieson of Edinburgh, which
adorns the Fourth Volume of this collection. Of

done so, than they heard Shellycoat applauding, in loud
bursts of laughter, his successful roguery. The spirit was
supposed particularly to haunt the old house of Gorinberr}',
situated on the river Hermitage, in Liddesdale.

^ This is a sort of spirit peculiar to those towns. He
has made his appearance in this very year (1809) in that
of York, if the vulgar may be credited. His name is de-
rived by Grose, from his appearing near bars or stiles, but
seems rather to come from the German Bahr-Geist, or
Spirit of the Bier.

208 INTRODUCTION.

Kelpy, therefore, it is iinnecessarj'- to say any
thing at present.

Of all these classes of spirits it may be, in
general, observed, that their attachment was
supposed to be local, and not personal. They
haunted the rock, the stream, the ruined castle,
without regard to the persons or families to whom
the property belonged. Hence they diflered en-
tirely from that species of spirits, to whom, in
the Highlands, is ascribed the guardianship, or
superintendence, of a particular clan, or family
of distinction ; and who, perhaps yet more than
the Brownie, resemble the classic household gods.
Thus, in a MS. history of Moray, we are in-
formed, that the family of Gurlinbeg is haunted
by a spirit, called GarUii Bodaclier ; that of the
Baron of Kinchardin, by Lamlulcarg,^ or Red-
hand, a spectre, one of whose hands is as red as
blood ; that of Tullochgorm, by May Moidach,

' The following notice of Lamhdcarg occurs in anotlicr
account of Strathspey, «^ji/c?Macfarlane's MSS. : — " Tliere
is much talk of a spirit called Ly-erg, who frequents tlie
■Glenmore. He appears with a red hand, in the habit oi
a soldier, and challenges men to fight with him ; as lately
as 1G69, he fouglit with three brothers, one after another,
who immediately thcrcalter died."

INTRODUCTION. 209

a female figure, whose left band and arm were
covered with hair, and who is also mentioned in
Aubrey's Miscellanies, pp. 211, 212, as a familiar
attendant upon the clan Grant. These super-
stitions were so ingrafted in the popular creed,
that the clerical synods and presbyteries were
wont to take cognizance of them.^

Various other superstitions, regarding magi-
cians, spells, prophecies, &c., will claim our at-
tention in the progress of this work.^ For the
present, therefore, taking the advice of an old
Scottish rhymer, let us

^ There is current, in some parts of Germany, a fanciful
superstition concerning the Stille Folk, or silent people.
These they suppose to be attached to houses of eminence,
and to consist of a number, corresponding to that of the
mortal family, each person of which has thus his represent-
ative amongst these domestic spirits. When the lady of
the family has a child, the queen of the silent people is
dehvered in the same moment. They endeavour to give
warning when danger approaches the family, assist in ward-
ing it off, and are sometimes seen to weep and wring their
hands before inevitable calamity.

^ [The reader is referred to Sir Walter Scott's Letters
on Demonology and Witchcraft, 1830, for a more detailed
examination of most of the superstitions here alluded to.— ^
Ed.]

VOL. I. O

210 INTRODUCTION.

" Leave bogles, brownies, gyre carlinges, and ghaists." '
Fhjting of Polwart and Moiitgomcnj .

The domestic economy of the Borderers next
engages our attention. That the revenues of the
chieftain shouhl be expended in rude hospitality,
was the natural result of his situation. His
wealth consisted chiefly in herds of cattle, which
were consumed by the kinsmen, vassals, and
followers, who aided him to acquire and to pro-
tect them."

1 So generally were these tales oi diablerie believed, tliat
one William Lithgow, a bon vivant, wlio appears to \\a.\Q
teen a native, or occasional inhabitant, of Melrose, is cele-
brated by the jjot-companion wlio composed his clog}',

because

" He was good company at jeists.
And wanton when lie came to feists.
He scorn'd the converse of great beasts.

O'er a sheep's head ;
He lauffJid at storks alout ghaists ;
Blyth Willie's dead ! "
Watson's Scottish Poems, Ediu. 1706".
3 We'may form some idea of the style of life maintained
by the Border warriors, from the anecdotes, handed down
by tradition, concerning Walter Scott of Harden, who
flourished towards the middle of the sixteenth century.
This ancient laird was a renowned freebooter, and used to
ride with a numerous band of followers. The spoil, which
they carried off from England, or from tlieir neighbours,

INTRODUCTION. 211

We learn from Lesley, that tlie Borderers were
temperate in tlieir use of intoxicating liquors, and
we are therefore left to conjecture how they oc-
cupied the time, when winter, or when accident,

was concealed in a deep and impervious glen, on the brink
of which the old tower of Harden is situated. From
thence the cattle were brought out, one by one, as they
were wanted, to supply the rude and plentiful table of the
laird. When the last bullock was killed and devoured, it
was the lady's custom to place on the table a dish, which,
on being uncovered, was found to contain a pair of clean
spurs, a hint to the riders that they must shift for their
next meal. Upon one occasion, when the village herd
was driving out the cattle to pasture, the old laird heard
him call loudly, to drive out Hardens cow. " Hardens
cow!" echoed the affronted chief — " Is it come to that
pass ? by my faith, they shall sune say Harden's hye," (cows.)
Accordingly, he sounded his bugle, mounted his horse, set
out with his followers, and returned next day with " ahow
ojhye, and a hassend [brindled] hidl." On his return with
this gallant prey, he passed a very large haystack. It
occurred to the provident laird, that this would be ex-
tremely convenient to fodder his new stock of cattle ; but
as no means of transporting it were obvious, he was fain
to take leave of it with this apostrophe, now proverbial :
" By my soul, had ye but four feet, ye should not stand
lang there ! " In short, as Froissart says of a similar class
of feudal robbers, nothing came amiss to them, that was
not too heavy, or too hot. The same mode of housekeeping
characterised most Border families on both sides. A MS.,
quoted in History of Cumberland, p. 466, concerning the

212 INTRODUCTION.

confined them to their habitations. The little
learning which existed in the middle ages, glim-
mered, a dim and dying flame, in the religious
touses ; and even in the sixteenth century, when

Graemes of Nctherbv, and otliers of that clan, runs thus .- —
*' They were all stark moss-troopers and arrant thieves :
"both to England and Scotland outlawed : yet sometimes
connived at, because they gave intelligence forth of Scot-
land, and would raise 400 horse at any time, upon a raid
of the English into Scotland." A sajing is recorded of a
mother of this clan to her son, (which is now become pro-
verbial,) "Ride, Roidy, [Rowland,] hoiigJi s i' the pot ;" that
is, the last piece of beef was in the pot, and therefore it
Tras high time for him to go and fetch more. To such men
might with justice be applied the poet's description of the
Cretan warrior, translated by my friend, Dr Leyden : —

" My sword, my spear, my shaggy sliield.

With these I till, with these I sow ;
With these I reap my harvest field,

Tlie only wealth the Gods bestow :
With these I plant the purple vine,
With these I press the luscious wine.

My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield.

They make me lord of all below ;
For he who dreads the lance to wield,

Before my shaggy shield must bow.
His lands, his vineyards, must resign ;
Aad all that cowards have is mine."

Jlyhrias (tip. Athenawn.)

INTRODUCTION. 215

its beams became more widely diffused, they
were far from penetrating tlie recesses of the
Border mountains. The tales of tradition, the
song, with the pipe or harp of the minstrel, were
probably the sole resources against ennui, during
the short intervals of repose from military ad-
venture.

This brings us to the more immediate subject
of the present publication.

Lesley, who dedicates to the description of
Border manners a chapter, which we have al-
ready often quoted, notices particularly the taste
of the Marchmen for music and ballad poetry.
" Placent admodum sibi sua niusica, et rythmicis
suis cantionibus, quas de majorum suorum gestis,
out ingeniosis predandi precandive stratagematibus
ipsi coiifingunt." — Lesl^us, in capit. de moribus
eorum, qui Scotice limites Angliam versus incolunt.
The more rude and wild the state of society, the
more general and violent is the impulse received
from poetry and music. The muse, whose effu-
sions are the amusement of a very small part of
a polished nation, records, in the lays of inspira-
tion, the history, the laws, the very religion, of
savages. — Where the pen and the press are want-

214 INTUODUCTION.

ing, tlie flow of numbers impresses upon the
memory of posterity the deeds and sentiments of
their forefathers. Verse is naturally connected
with music ; and, among a rude people, the union
is seldom broken. By this natural alliance, the
lays, " steeped in the stream of harmony," are
more easily retained by the reciter, and produce
upon his audience a more impressive effect.
Hence, there has hardly been found to exist a
nation so brutishly rude, as not to listen with
enthusiasm to the songs of their bards, recount-
ing the exploits of their forefathers, recording
their laws and moral precepts, or hymning the
praises of their deities. But where the feelings
are frequently stretched to the highest pitch, by
the vicissitudes of a life of danger and military
adventure, this predisposition of a savage people,
to admire their own rude poetry and music, is
heightened, and its tone becomes peculiarly de-
termined. It is not the peaceful Hindu at liis
loom, it is not the timid Esquimaux in his canoe,
whom we must expect to glow at the -VA'ar-song
of Tyrtseus. The music and the poetry of each
country must keep pace with their usual tone of
mind, as well as with the state of society.

INTRODUCTION. 215

The morality of their compositions is deter-
mined by the same circumstances. Those themes
are necessarily chosen by the bard, which re-
gard the favourite exploits of the hearers ; and
he celebrates only those virtues which from in-
fancy he has been taught to admire. Hence, as
remarked by Lesley, the music and songs of the
Borderers were of a military nature, and cele-
brated the valour and success of their predatory
expeditions. Razing, like Shakspeare's pirate,
the eighth commandment from the decalogue,
the minstrels praised their chieftains for the very
exploits, against which the laws of the country
denounced a capital doom. An outlawed free-
booter was to them a more interesting person
than the King of Scotland exerting legal power
to punish his depredations ; and when the cha-
racters are contrasted, the latter is always re-
presented as a ruthless and sanguinary tyrant.
Spenser's description of the bards of Ireland
applies, in some degree, to our ancient Border
poets. " There is, among the Irish, a certain
kinde of people called bardes, which are to them
instead of poets ; whose profession is to set forth
the praises or dispraises of men, in their poems

216 INTRODUCTION.

or rhymes; the which are had in such high re-
gard or esteem amongst them, that none dare
displease them, for fear of running into reproach
through their offence, and to be made infamous
in the mouths of all men ; for their verses are
taken up with a general applause, and usually
sung at all feasts and meetings, by certain other
persons, whose proper function that is, who also
receive, for the same, great rewardes and repu-
tation amongst them." Spenser, having bestow-
ed due praise upon the poets, who sung the
praises of the good and virtuous, informs us,
that the bards, on the contrary, " seldom use to
choose unto themselves the doings of good men
for the arguments of their poems ; but whomso-
ever they finde to be most licentious of life, most
bold and lawless in his doings, most dangerous
and desperate in all parts of disobedience, and
rebellious disposition, him they set up and glorify
in their rhythmes ; him they praise to the people,
and to young men make an example to follow."
. — " Eudoxus — I marvail what kind of speeches
they can find, or what faces they can put on, to
praise such bad persons, as live so lawlessly
and licentiously upon stealths and spoyies, as

INTRODUCTION. 217

most of them do ; or liow tliey can think that
any good mind will applaud or approve the
same?" In answer to this question, L^enceus,
after remarking the giddy and restless disposi-
tion of the ill- educated youth of Ireland, which
made them prompt to receive evil counsel, adds,
that such a person, " if he shall find any to'
praise him, and to give him any encouragement,
as those bards and rhythmers do, for little re-
ward, or share of a stolen cow,^ then waxeth he
most insolent, and half-mad, with the love of him-
self and his own lewd deeds. And as for words
to set forth such lewdness, it is not hard for them
to give a goodly and painted show thereunto,
borrowed even from the praises which are proper
to virtue itself. As of a most notorious thief,
and wicked outlaw, which had lived all his life-
time of spoils and robberies, one of their bardes,

' The reward of the Welsh bards, and perhaps of those
upon the Border, was very similar. It was enacted by
Howel Dha, that if the king's bard played before a body ot
warriors, upon a predatory excursion, he should receive, in
recompense, the best cow which the party carried off. —
Leges WallicB, 1. 1. cap. 19.

218 INTRODUCTION. I

in his praise, will say, ' that he was none of tb(
idle milk-sops that were brought up by the fire-
side, but that most of his days he spent in arms,
and valiant enterprises ; that he never did eat his
meat before he had won it with his sword ; that
he lay not all night slugging in his cabin under
his mantle, but used commonly to keep others
waking to defend their lives, and did light his
candle at the flames of their houses to lead him
in the darkness ; that the day was his night, and
the night his day ; that he loved not to be long
wooing of wenches to yield to him ; but, where
he came, he took by force the spoil of other men's
love, and left but lamentations to their lovers ;
that his music was not the harp, nor lays of love,
but the cries of people, and clashing of armour ;
and, finally, that he died, not bewailed of many,
but made many wail when he died, that dearly
bought his death.' Do not you think, Eudoxus,
that many of these praises might be applied to
men of best deserts ? Yet are they all yielded to
a most notable traitor, and amongst some of t lie
Irish not smally accounted of." — State oflrelaiuL
The same concurrence of circumstances, so mcU

INTRODUCTION. 219

pointed out by Spenser, as dictating tlie topics
of the Irisli bards, tuned the Border harps to the
praise of an outlawed Armstrong, or Murray.

For similar reasons, flowing from the state of
society, the reader must not expect to find, in
the Border ballads, refined sentiment, and, far
less, elegant expression ; although the style of
such compositions has, in modern hands, been
found highly susceptible of both. But passages
might be pointed out, in which the rude minstrel
has melted in natural pathos, or risen into rude
energy. Even where these graces are totally
wanting, the interest of the stories themselves,
and the curious picture of manners which they
frequently present, authorize them to claim some
respect from the public. But it is not the Edi-
tor's present intention to enter upon a history of
Border poetry ; a subject of great difficulty, and
which the extent of his information does not as
yet permit him to engage in. He will, there-
fore, now lay before the reader the plan of the
present publication ; pointing out the authorities
from which his materials are derived, and slightly
noticing the nature of the different classes into
which he has arrang-ed them.

220 INTRODUCTION.

The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border
contains Three Classes of Poems :

I. Historical Ballads.
II. Romantic.
III. Imitations of these compositions

BY modern authors.

The Historical Ballad relates events, which
we either know actually to have taken place, or
which, at least, making due allowance for the
exaggerations of poetical tradition, we may rea-
dily conceive to have had some foundation in
history. For reasons already mentioned, such
ballads were early current upon the Border.
Barbour informs us, that he thinks it unneces-
sary to rehearse the account of a victory, gained
in Eskdale over the English, because

— " Whasa liks, thai may her
Young wemen, whan thai will play,
Syng it among thciim ilk day."

The Bruce, liook x\i.

Godscroft also, in his history of the House of
Douglas, MTitten in the reign of James VL,
alludes more than once to the ballads current

INTRODUCTION. 221

upon the Border, in which the exploits of those
heroes were celebrated. Such is the passage re-
lating to the death of William Douglas, Lord
of Liddesdale, slain by the Earl of Douglas, his
kinsman, his godson, and his chief.^ Similar
strains of lamentation were poured by the Bor-
der poets over the tomb of the Hero of Otter-
bourne ; and over the unfortunate youths, who

' " The Lord of Liddesdale being at his pastime, hunt-
ing in Ettrick Forest, is beset by William, Earl of Douglas,
and such as he had ordained for the purpose, and there
assailed, wounded, and slain, beside Galeswood, in the year
1353, upon a jealousy that the Earl had conceived of liim
■with his lady, as the report goeth : for so sayeth the old
song,

" ' The Countess of Douglas out of lier bower she came.

And loudly there that she did call —
It is for the Lord of Liddesdale,

That I let all these tears down fall.'

" The song also declareth, how she did write her love-
letters to Liddesdale, to dissuade him from that hunting.
It tells likewise the manner of the taking of his men, and
his own killing at Galeswood ; and how he was carried the
first night to Linden kirk, a mile from Selkirk, and was
buried in the Abbey of Melrose." — Godscroft, vol. i. p.
144, Ed. 1743.

Some fragments of this ballad are still current, and will
be found in the ensuing work.

222 INTRODUCTION. 1

were dragged to an ignominious death, from the 1
very table at Avhich they partook of the hospita-
lity of their sovereign. The only stanza preserved
of this last ballad is uncommonly animated :

" Edinburgh castle, toune, and toure,

God grant thou sink for sinne !
And that even for the black dinoure,

Erl Douglas gat therein."

Who will not regret, with the Editor, that com-
positions of such interest and antiquity should
be now irrecoverable ? But it is the nature of
popular poetry, as of popular applause, perpetu-
ally to shift with the objects of the time ; and it
is the frail chance of recovering some old manu-
script, which can alone gratify our curiosity re-
garding the earlier efforts of the Border jNIuse.
Some of her later strains, composed during the
sixteenth century, have survived even to the
present day ; but the recollection of them has,
of late years, become like that of a " tale which
was told." In the sixteenth century, these north-
ern tales appear to have been popular even in
London ; for the learned Mr llitson has obli-
gingly pointed out to me the following passages,
respecting the noted ballad of Dick o' tlie Cow ;

INTRODUCTION. 223

" Dick o' the Cow, that mad demi-lance North-
ern Borderer, who plaid his prizes with the Lord
Jockey so bravely." — Nashe's Have ivith you
to Saffren-Walden, or Gahriell Harvey's Hunt is
up. — 1596, 4to. Ejnstle Dedicator ie, sty. A. 2.
6. And in a list of books, printed for, and sold
by, P. Brocksby (1688,) occurs " Dick-a-the-
Cow, containing north country songs." ^ Could
this collection have been found, it would pro-
bably have thrown much light on the present
publication ; but the editor has been obliged to
draw his materials chiefly from oral tradition.

Something may be still found in the Border
cottages, resembling the scene described by Peii-
nicuick : —

" On a winter's night my grannum spinning.
To mak a web of good Scots linen ;

1 The Selkirkshire ballad of Tamlane seems also to have
been well known in England. Among the popular heroes
of romance, enumerated in the introduction to the history
of " Tom Thumbe," (London, 1621, bl. letter,) occurs
" Tom a Lin, the devil's supposed bastard." There is a
parody upon the same ballad in the " Finder of Wakefield"
(London, 1621.)

224 INTRODUCTION.

Her stool being placed next to the chimley,

(For she was auld, and saw rigiit dimly,)

My lucky-dad, an honest whig.

Was telling tales of BothweU-brig ;

He could not miss to mind the attempt,

For he was sitting pu'ing hemp ;

My aunt, whom nane dare say has no grace,

Was reading in the Pilgrim's Progress ;

The meilde tasker, Davie Dallas,

Was telling blads of WiUiam Wallace ;

My mither bade her second son say.

What he'd by heart of Davie Lindsay :

Our herd, whom all folks hate that knows him.

Was busy hunting in his bosom ;

The bairns and oyes were all within doors : \
The youngest of us chewing cinders, >

And all the auld anes telling wonders." )

Pexnicuick's Poems, p. 7-

The causes of the preservation of these songs
have either entirely ceased, or are gradually de-
caying. Whether they were originally the com-
position of minstrels, professing the joint arts of
poetry and music ; or whether they were the
occasional effusions of some self-taught bard, is
a question into which I do not here mean to en-
quire. But it is certain, that, till a very late
period, the ])ipers, of whom tiiere was one attach-
ed to each Border town of note, and whose office

INTRODUCTION. 225

was often hereditary, were the great depositaries
of oral, and particularly of poetical, tradition.
About spring time, and after harvest, it was the
custom of these musicians to make a progress
through a particular district of the country. The
music and the tale repaid their lodging, and they
were usually gratified with a donation of seed
corn.^ This order of minstrels is alluded to in
the comic song of Maggy Lauder, who thus ad-
dresses a piper —

'• Live ye upo' the Border ?"
By means of these men, much traditional poe-

* These town-pipers, an institution of great antiquity
upon the Borders, were certainly the last remains of the
minstrel race. Robin Hastie, town-piper of Jedburgh, per-
haps the last of the order, died nine or ten years ago : his
family was supposed to have held the office for about three
centuries. Old age had rendered Robin a wretched per-
former ; but he knew several old songs and tunes, which
have probably died along with him. The town-pipers re-
ceived a livery and salary from the community to which
they belonged ; and, in some burghs, they had a small allot-
ment of land, called the Piper's Croft. For further parti-
culars regarding them, see Introduction to Complai/nt of
Scotland, Edinburgh, 1801, p. 142. (1802.)

VOL. I. P

226 INTRODUCTION.

try was preserved, which, must otherwise have
perished. Other itinerants, not professed musi-
cians, found their welcome to their night's quar-
ters readily ensured by their knowledge in legend-
ary lore. John Grseme, of Sowport, in Cum-
berland, commonly called The Long Quaker,^ a
person of this latter description, was very lately
alive ; and several of the songs, now published,
have been taken down from his recitation. The
shepherds also, and aged persons, in the recesses
of the Border mountains, frequently remember
and repeat the warlike songs of their fathers.
This is more especially the case in what are call-
ed the South Highlands, where, in many in-
stances, the same families have occupied the
same possessions for centuries.

* This person, perhaps the last of our professed ballad
reciters, died since the publication of the first edition of this
work. He was by profession an itinerant cleaner of clocks
and watches ; but a stentorian voice, and tenacious me-
mory, qualified liim eminently for remembering accurately,
and reciting with energ}% the Border gathering songs and
tales of war. His memory was latterly much impaired ; yet,
the number of verses which he could pour forth, and the
animation of his tone and gesture, formed a most extraor-
dinary contrast to his extreme feebleness of person, and
dotage of mind. (1810.)

INTRODUCTION. 227

It is cliiefly from this latter source that the
Editor has drawn his materials, most of which
were collected many years ago, during his early
youth.^ But he has been enabled, in many in-
stances, to supply and correct the deficiencies of
his own copies, from a collection of Border songs,
frequently referred to in the work, under the title
of GlenriddeW s MS. This was compiled from
various sources, by the late Mr Riddell of Glen-
riddell, a sedulous Border antiquary, and, since
his death, has become the property of Mr Jollie,
bookseller at Carlisle, to whose liberality the Edi-
tor owes the use of it, while preparing this work
for the press. No liberties have been taken,
either with the recited or written copies of these
ballads, farther than that, where they disagreed,
which is by no means unusual, the Editor, injus-
tice to the author, has uniformly preserved what
seemed to him the best or most poetical reading
of the passage. Such discrepancies must very

' [There is in the library at Abbotsford a collection of
ballads, partly printed broadsides, partly in MS., in sLx
small volumes, which, from the handwriting, must have
been formed by Sir Walter Scott while he was attending
the earlier classes of Edinbui'gh College Ed.]

228 INTRODUCTION.

frequently occur, wherever poetry is preserved
by oral tradition ; for the reciter, making it a uni •
form principle to proceed at all hazards, is very
often, when his memory fails him, apt to substi-
tute large portions from some other tale, altoge-
ther distinct from that which he has commenced.
Besides, the prejudices of clans and of districts
have occasioned variations in the mode of telling
the same story. Some arrangement was also oc-
casionally necessary, to recover the I'hyme, which
was often, by the ignorance of tlie reciters, trans-
posed, or thrown into the middle of the line. Witli
these freedoms, which were essentially necessary,
to remove obvious corruptions, and fit the ballads
for the press, the Editor presents them to the pub-
lic, under the complete assurance that they carry
with them tlie most indisputable marks of their
authenticity.

The same observations apply to the Second
Class,heretermed Romantic Ballads, intended
to comprehend such legends as are current upon
the Border, relating to fictitious and marvellous
adventures. Such were the talcs with whicli tlie
friends of Spenser strove to beguile his indispo-
sition : —

INTRODUCTION. 229

" Some told of ladies, and their paramours ;
Some of brave knights, and their renowned squires ;
Some of the fairies, and their strange attires.
And some of giants, hard to be beheved."

These, carrying with them a general, and not
merely a local interest, are much more exten-
sively known among the peasantry of Scotland
than the Border-raid ballads, the fame of which
is in general confined to the mountains where
they were originally composed. Hence, it has
been easy to collect these tales of romance, to a
number much greater than the Editor has chosen
to insert in this publication.^ With this class
are now intermingled some lyric pieces, and some
ballads, which, though narrating real events, have
no direct reference to Border history or manners.
To the politeness and liberality of Mr Herd of

' Mr Robert Jamieson, of Macclesfield, a gentleman of
literary and poetical accomplishments, was, for some years,
employed in a compilation of Scottish ballad poetry, which
was published in 1806. I ^therefore, as far as the nature
of my work permitted, sedulously avoided anticipating any
of his materials : and the curious reader will find in his
collection some important light on the history of Scottish
Song, derived from comparing it with the ballad of the
Scandinavians. 1810.

230 INTRODUCTION.

Edinburgh, who put forth the first classical col-
lection of Scottish songs and ballads, the Editor
is indebted for the use of his MSS., containing
songs and ballads, published and unpublished, to
the number of ninety and upwards. To this col-
lection frequent references are made in the course
of the following pages. Two books of ballads, in
MS., have also been communicated to me by my
learned and respected friend, Alexander Eraser
Tytler, Esq.^ I take the liberty of transcribing
Mr Tytler's memorandum respecting the man-
ner in which they came into his hands. " My
father^ got the following songs from an old friend,
Mr Thomas Gordon, Professor of Philosophy in
King's College, Aberdeen. The following ex-
tract of a letter of the Professor to me explains
how he came by them : — ' An aunt of my chil-
dren, Mrs Farquhar, now dead, who was married
to the proprietor of a small estate, near the sources
of the Dee, in Braemar, a good old woman, who

1 Now a senator of tho College of Justice, by the title of
Lord Woodhouselee. 1810 — Now decciised. 1820.

2 William Tytler, Esq. the ingenious defender of Queen
Mar)', and autlior of a Dissertation uj)o>i Scottish JMusic,
which docs honour to his memory.

INTRODUCTION. :231

liad spent the best part of her life among flocks
and herds, resided in her latter days in the town
of Aberdeen. She was possessed of a most tena-
cious memory, which retained all the songs she
had heard from nurses and country-women in
that sequestered part of the country. Being ma-
ternally fond of my children, when young, she
had them much about her, and delighted them
with her songs and tales of chivalry. My young-
est daughter, Mrs Brown, at Falkland, is blest
with a memory as good as her aunt, and has al-
most the whole of her songs by heart. In con-
versation, I mentioned them to your father, at
whose request my grandson, Mr Scott, wrote
down a parcel of them as his aunt sung them.
Being then but a mere novice in music, he added,
in the copy, such musical notes as, he supposed,
might give your father some notion of the airs,
or rather lilts, to which they were sung.' "

From this curious and valuable collection, the
Editor has procured very material assistance. At
the same time, it contains many beautiful legend-
ary poems, of which he could not avail himself,
as they seemed to be the exclusive property of
the bards of Angus and Aberdeenshire. But the

232 INTRODUCTION.

copies of such as were known on the Borders,
have furnished him with various readings, and
with supplementary stanzas, which he has fre-
quent opportunities to acknowledge. The MSS.
are cited under the name of Mrs Brown of
Falkland, the ingenious lady, to whose taste and
memory the w^orld is indebted for the preserva-
tion of the tales which they contain.^ The other

' [To this lady, Mr Jamieson also acknowledges his obli-
gations for similar assistance, in the following terms : —

" For the groundwork of this collection, and for the
greater and more valuable part of the popular and romantic
tales which it contains, the public are indebted to Mrs
Brown of Falkland. Besides the large supply of ballads,
taken down from her own recitation many years ago, by
Professor Scott of Aberdeen — in 1800, I paid an unexpect-
ed visit to Mrs Brown, at Dysart, where she then happened
to be for health, and wrote down, from her unpremeditated
repetition, about a dozen pieces more, most of which will
be found in my work. Several others, which I had not
time to take down, were afterwards transmitted to me by
Mrs Brown herself, and by her late highly respectable and
worthy husband, the Rev. Dr Brown. Every person who
peruses the following sheets, will see how much I owe to
Mrs Brown, and to her ne|)liew, my much-esteemed friend,
Professor Scott ; and it rests with me to feel, that I owe
them much more for the zeal and spirit which tliey have
manifested, than even for tiie valualjle communications
wluch they have made.

INTPxODUCTION. 233

authorities, wliicli occur during tlie work, are
particularly referred to. Much information has
been communicated to the Editor, from various
quarters, since the work was first published, of
which he has availed himself, to correct and
enlarge the subsequent editions.

In publishing both classes of Ancient Ballads,
the Editor has excluded those which are to be
found in the common collections of this nature,

" As to the authenticity of the pieces themselves, tliey
are as authentic as traditionary poetry can be expected to
be ; and their being more entire than most other such pieces
are found to be, may be easily accounted for, from the cir-
cumstance that there are few persons of Mrs Brown's abili-
ties and education, that repeat popular ballads from memory.
She learnt most of them before she M^as twelve years old,
from old women and maid-servants : What slie once learnt
she never forgot ; and such were her curiosity and industrj',
that she was not contented with merely knowing the stor^■,
according to one way of telling, but studied to acquire all
the varieties of the same tale which she could meet with.
In some instances, these different readings may have insen-
sibly mixed with each other, and produced, from various
disjointed fragments, a whole, such as reciters, whose
memories and judgments are less perfect, can seldom pro-
duce : but this must be the case in all poetry, which depends
for its authenticity on oral tradition alone." — Preface toJa-
miesoiUs Ballads.']

234 INTRODUCTION.

unless in one or two instances, where he concei-
ved it possible to give some novelty, by histo-
rical or critical illustration.

It would have been easy for the Editor to have
given these songs an appearance of more indis-
putable antiquity, by adopting the rude orthogra-
phy of the period to which he is inclined to refer
them. But this (unless when MSS. of antiquity
can be referred to) seemed too arbitrary an
exertion of the privileges of a publisher, and
must, besides, have unnecessarily increased the
difficulties of many readers. On the other hand,
the utmost care has been taken, never to reject
a word or phrase, used by a reciter, however
uncouth or antiquated. Such barbarisms, which
stamp upon the tales their age and their nation,
should be respected by an editor, as the hardy
emblem of his country was venerated by the Poet
of Scotland :

" The rough bur-thistle spreading wide

Amang the bearded beer,
I turned the weedcr-chps aside,

And spared the symbol dear."

BUKNS.

The meaning of such obsolete words is usually

INTRODUCTION. 235

given at the bottom of the page. For explanation
of the more common peculiarities of the Scottish
dialect, the English reader is referred to the
excellent glossary annexed to the best editions
of Burns's works.

The Third Class of Ballads are announced to
the public, as Modern Imitations of the
Ancient style of composition, in that department
of poetry ; and they are founded upon such
traditions, as we may suppose in the elder times
would have employed the harps of the minstrels.
This kind of poetry has been supposed capable of
uniting the vigorous numbers and wild fiction,
which occasionally charm us in the ancient ballad,
with a greater equality of versification, and ele-
gance of sentiment, than we can expect to find
in the works of a rude age. But upon my ideas
of the nature and difficulty of such imitations, I
ought in prudence to be silent ; lest I resemble
the dwarf, who brought with him a standard to
measure his own stature. I may, however, hint
at the difi'erence, not always attended to, betwixt
the legendary poems and real imitations of the
old ballad ; the reader will find specimens of both
in the modern part of this collection. The le-

236 INTRODUCTION.

gendary poem, called Glenjinlas, and the ballad,
entitled the Eve of St John, were designed as
examples of the difference betwixt these two
kinds of composition. ,

It would have the appearance of personal
vanity, were the Editor to detail the assistance
and encouragement which he has received, during
his undertaking, from some of the first literary
characters of our age. The names of Steuart,
Mackenzie, Ellis, Currie, and Ritson, with many
others, are talismans too powerful to be used, for
bespeaking the world's favour to a collection of
old songs ; even although a veteran bard has
remarked, " that both the great poet of Italian
rhyme, Petrarch, and our Chaucer, and other of
the upper house of the Muses, have thought their
canzons honoured in the title of a ballad." To
my ingenious friend, Dr John Leydcn,^ my
readers will at once perceive that I lie under
extensive obligations, for the poetical pieces with
which he has permitted me to decorate my com-
pilation ; but I am yet further indebted to him

' Now, to the iiroat loss of literature, and of liis frioiuis,
no more. 1820.

INTRODUCTION. 237

for Ills uniform assistance, in collecting and ar-
ranarino- materials for the work.^

In the Notes and occasional Dissertations, it
has been my object to throw together, perhaps
without a sufficient attention to method, a variety
of remarks, regarding popular superstitions, and

' [" In 1801, when Mr Lewis published his Tales of
Wonder, Leyden was a contributor to that collection, and
furnished the ballad of the Elf-King. And in the following
year, he employed himself earnestly in the congenial task of
procuring materials for the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,
the first publication of the Editor of that collection. In this
labour, he was equally interested by friendship for the Editor,
and by his own patriotic zeal for the honour of the Scottish
Borders, and both may be judged of from the following cir-
cumstance. An interesting fragment had been obtained of
an ancient historical ballad, but the remainder, to the great
disturbance of the Editor and his coadjutor, was not to be
recovered. Two days afterwards, while the Editor was
sitting with some company after dinner, a sound was heard
at a distance like that of the whistling of a tempest through
the torn rigging of the vessel which scuds before it. The
sounds increased as they approached more near, and Leyden
(to the great astonislmient of such of the guests as did not
know him) burst into the room, chanting the desiderated
ballad, with the most enthusiastic gesture, and all the energy
of the saw-tones of his voice, already commemorated. It
turned out, that he had Wcilked between forty and fifty miles,
and back again, for the sole purpose of visiting an old persoa

238 INTRODUCTION. ,

\

legendary history, wliicli, if not now collected, j
must soon have been totally forgotten. By such i
efforts, feeble as they are, I may contribute'
somewhat to the history of ray native countr}^ :
the peculiar features of whose manners and clui- ,
racter are daily melting and dissolving into those
of her sister and ally. And, trivial as may ap})e;ir
such an offering to the manes of a kingdom, oiue
proud and independent, I hang it upon her altar
with a mixture of feelings which I shall not
attempt to describe.

" Hail, Land of spearmen ! seed of those who scorn'd
To stoop the proud crest to Imperial Rome !
Hail ! dearest half of Albion, sea-wall'd !
Hail ! state unconquer'd by the fire of war.

who possessed this precious remnant of antiquity. His
antiquarian researches and poetic talents were also liberally
exerted for the support of this undertaking. To the former,
the reader owes, in a great measure, the Dissertation on
Fairy Superstition, which, although arranged and digested
by the Editor, abounds wth instances of such curious
reading as Leydon alone had read, and was originally com-
piled by him ; and to the latter, the spirited ballads entitled
Lord Soulis, and the Court of Keeldar." — Biographical
Memoir of Dr Leydcn, in Sir Walter Scott's Miscellaneous
Prose Works.]

INTRODUCTION. 239

Red war, that twenty ages round thee blazed !
To thee, for whom my purest raptures flow,
Kneehng with filial homage, I devote
My hfe, my strength, my first and latest song."'

^ [From Albania, (1742,) wtose author has never been dis-
covered. This poem was a great favourite with Sir Walter Scott,
who often read it aloud in his evening circle. He used to say it
was most likely the early effort of some gentleman, who, rising
subsequently to eminence in a grave profession, was afraid of con-
fessing that he had ever indulged in the light sin of verse. The
origiaal thin folio is very rare — ^but Dr Leyden reprinted the piece
in his " Scottish Descriptive Poems," 1803, 12mo — Ed.]

240 APPENDIX, NO. I.

APPENDIX, No. I.

LETTER

FROM

THE EARL OF SURREY, TO HENRY VHL

GIVING AN ACCOUNT

OF THE STORM OF JEDBURGH.
Cott. MSS. Calig. B. III. Fol. 29.

"Pleisith it your grace to be advertised, that upon
Fridaye, at x a clok at nyght, I retourned to this towne
and all the garnysons to their places assigned, the bush-
opricke men, my Lorde of Westmoreland, and my
Lorde Dacre, in likewise, every man home with their
companys, without loss of any men, thanked l)e God ;
saving viii or x slayne, and dyvers hurt, at skvrmvshis
and saults of the town of Gedwurth, and the fortereis-
sis ; which towne is soo surelv brent that no garnvsons
ner none other shal bee lodged there, unto the time it bee
nevve buylded ; the brennyngwhereof Icomytted totwoo

APPENDIX, NO. I. 241

sure men, Sir William Bulmer, and Thomas Tempeste.
The towne was much better than I went [i. e. ween'd]
it had been, for there was twoo tymys moo houses
therein then in Berwicke, and well buylded, with many
honest and fair houses therein, sufficiente to have lodged
M horsemen in garnyson, and six good towres therein ;
which towne and towres be clenely destroyed, brent,
and throwen down. Undoubtedly there was noo jour-
ney made into Scotlande, in noo manys day levying,
with soo fewe a nombre, that is recownted to be soo
high an enterprise as tliis, bothe with theis contremen,
and Scottishmen, nor of truthe so much hurte doon.
But in th' ende a great mysfortune ded fal, onely by
foly, that such ordre, as was commanded by me to be
kepte, was not observed, the manner whereof hereaftir
shall ensue. Bifore myn entred into Scotland, I ap-
pointed Sir William Bulmer and Sir William Evers too
be marshallis of th' army ; Sir WilUam Bulmer for the
vanguard, and Sir William Evers for the rereguard. In
the vanguard I appointed my Lord of Westmoreland,
as chief, with all the bushopricke, Sir William Bulmer,
Sir WiUiam Evers, my Lord Dacre, with all his com-
pany ; and with me remayned all the rest of the garny-
sons, and the Northumberland men. I was of coun-
sall with the marshallis at th' ordering' of our lodging,
and our campe was soo well envirowned with ordy-
nance, carts, and dikes, that hard it was to entre or
issue but at certain places appointed for that purpos,
and assigned the mooste commodious place of the said

VOL. I. Q

242 APPENDIX, NO. I. 1

campe for mv Lord Dacre his company, next the water,
and next my Lord of Westmoreland. And at suche tymef
as my Lord Dacre came into the felde, I being- at the
sault of th' abby, which contynued unto twoo houres
within nyght, my seid Lord Dacre wolde in no wise
bee contente to ly within the campe, whiche was made
right sin-e, but lodged himself vyithout, wherewith, at my
returne, I was not contente, but then it was too late
to remove ; the next daye I sente my seid Lord Dacre
to a stronghold, called Fernherste, the lord whereof was
his mortal enemy ; and wyth him. Sir Arthur Darcv,
Sir Marmaduke Constable, with viii c of their men,
one cortoute, and dyvers other g-ood peces of ordynance
for the feld (the seid Fernherste stode marvelous strong-
ly, within a grete woode ;) the seid twoo knights, with
the most part of their men, and Strickland, your g-race's
servaunte, with my Kendall men, vyent into the woode
on fote, with th' ordynance, where the said Kendall
men'were so handled, that they found hardy men, that
went noo foote back for theym ; the other two knightes
were also soo sharply assayled, that they were enforced
to call for moo of their men ; and yet could not bring-
the^ordynance to the fortrees, unto the tyme my Lord
Dacre, with part of his horsemen, lighted on fote ; and
marvelously hardly handled himself, and fynally, with
long- skirmyshing-, and moche difficultie, gat forthe th'
ordynance within the ho\yse, and threvye down the
same. At which skyrmyshe, my seid Lord Dacre, and
his brother, Sir Cristufer, Sir Artluire, and Sir INlar-

APPENDIX, NO. I. 243

madnke, and many other gentilmen, did marvellously
hardly ; and found the best resistance that hath been
seen with my comying' to their parties, and above xxxii
Scottis sleyne, and not passing- iiij Englishmen, but
above xl hurt. Aftir that, my said lord returnyng to
the camp, wold in no wise bee lodged in the same, but
where he lay the furst nyght. And he being with me
at souper, about viij a clok, the horses of his company
brak lowse, and sodenly ran out of his feld, in such
nombre, that it caused a marvellous alarome in our feld ;
and our standing watche being set, the horses cam ron-
nyng along the campe, at whome were shot above one
hundred shief of arrowes, and dy vers gonnys, thinking-
they had been Scots, that wold have saulted the campe ;
fynally, the horses were so madde, that they ran like
wild dere into the feld, above xv c at the leest, in dy-
vers companys ; and, in one place, above L felle downe
a grete rok, and slew theymself, and above ij c ran into
the towne being on fire, and by the women taken, and
carried awaye right evill brent, and many were taken
agayne. But, finally, by that I can esteme by the
nombre of theym that I saw goo on foote the next daye,
I think thare is lost above viij c horses, and all with
foly for lak of not lying within the camp. I dare not
write the wondres that my Lord Dacre, and all his
company, doo saye theye sawe that nyght, vj tyms of
spirits and fereful sights. And unyversally all their
company saye playnly, the devil was that nyght among-
theym vi tymys ; which mysfortune hath blemyshed

244 APPENDIX, NO. I.

tlie best journey that was made in Scotland many
yeres. I assure your grace I found the Scottes, at this
tyme, the boldest men and the hotest, that ever I sawe
any nation ; and all the journey, upon aU parts of th'
armye, kepte us with soo continuaU skyrmyshe, that
I never saw the like. If they might assemble xl M
as good men as I nowe sawe xv c or ij M, it wold be
a hard encountre to mete theym. Pitie it is of my
Lord Dacres losse of the horses of his company ; he
])rought with hym above iiij M men, and came and
lodged one night in Scotland, in his moost mortal ene-
my's contre. There is noo herdyer, ner bettir knight,
but often tyme he doth not use the most sure order,
which he hath nowe payd derely for. Written at Ber-
wike the xxvij of September.

*' Your most bownden,

" T. Surrey."

245

APPENDIX, NO. II

APPENDIX, No. 11.

HISTORY OF GEORDIE BOURNE.

In the following' passage, extracted from the Memoirs
of Sir Robert Carey, then deputy of his father, Lord
Hunsdon, Warden of the East Marches, afterwards
Earl of Monmouth, the reader will find a lively illus-
tration of the sketch of Border manners in the prece-
ding Introduction.

" Having thus ended with my brother, I then be-
ganne to thinke of the charge I had taken upon mee,
which was the government of the East March in my
father's absence. I wrote to Sir Robert Kerr,^ who
was my opposite warden, a brave active young man,
and desired him that hee would appoint a day, when
hee and myselfe might privately meet in some part of
the Border, to take some good order for the (juieting
the Borders, tiU my retourne from London, which jour-

* Sir Robert Kerr of Cessford, Warden of the Middle MarcKes,
aad ancestor of tte house of Roxburghe.

246 APPENDIX, NO. II. I

ney I was shortly of necessity to take. Hee stayed my I
man all night, and wrote to mee back, that hee was
glad to have the happinesse to be acquainted with mee,
and did not doubt but the country would be better go-
verned by our good agreements. I wrote to him on
the Monday, and the Thursday after hee appointed the
place and hour of meeting.

" After hee had filled my man with drinke, and put
him to bed, hee, and some half a score with him, got to
horse, and came into England to a little village. There
hee broke up a house, and tooke out a poor fellow, who
(hee pretended) had done him some wrong, and before
the doore cruelly murthered him, and so came quietly
home, and went to bed. The next morning hee deli-
vered my man a letter in answer to mine, and retourned
him to mee. It pleased mewell at the readingof his kinde
letter ; but when I heard what a brave hee had put ujion
me, I quickly resolved «hat to do, which was, never to
have to do with him till I was righted for the great e
wrong hee had done mee. Upon this resolution, the day
I should have mett with him, I tooke post, and with all
the haste I could, rode to London, leaving him to attend
my coming to him as was appointed. There hee stayed
from one till five, but heard no news of mee. Finding
by this that I had neglected him, hee retourned home
to his house, and so things rested (with greate dislike
the one of the other) till I i-.\nn' back, which was with
all the spcede I could, niv bu^iiicsso being ended. Tlic
lirst thing I did after my rctourne, was to a>k justice

APPENDIX, NO. II. 247

for the wrong hee had clone mee ; but I could get none.
The Borderers, seeing- our disagreement, they thought
the time wished for of them was come. The winter
being begunne, their was roades made out of Scotland
into the East March, and goods were taken three or
four times a-weeke. I had no other meanes left to
quiet them, but still sent out of the garrison horsemen
of Barwicke, to watch in the fittest places for them,
and it was their good hap many times to light upon
them, with the stolen goods driving before them. They
were no sooner brought before mee, but a jury went
upon them, and being found guilty, they were presently
hanged ; a course which hath been seldom used, but I
had no way to keep the country quiet but so to do ;
for, when the Scotch theeves found what a sharp course
I tooke with them that were found with the bloody
hand, I had in a short time the country more quiet.
All this while wee were but in jest, as it were, but
now beganne the great quarrell betweene us.

" There was a favourite of his, a greate theife, called
Geordie Bourne. This gallant, with some of his as-
sociates, would, in a bravery, come and take goods in
the East March. I had that night some of the garri-
son abroad. They met with this Geordie and his fel-
lows, driving of cattle before them. The garrison set
upon them, and with a shott killed Geordie Bourne's
unckle, and hee himselfe, bravely resisting till hee was
sore hurt in the head, was taken. After hee was taken,
his pride was such, as hee asked, who it was that durst

248 APPENDIX, NO. II. j

I

avow that nig-htes work ? but M-hen bee beard it was '
tbe garrison, bee was then more quiet. But so power-
full and so awfuU was tbis Sir Robert Kerr, and bis
favourites, as tbere was not a g-entleman in all tbe
East Marcb tbat durst offend tbem. Presently after
bee was taken, I bad most of tbe gentlemen of tbe
Marcb come to mee, and told mee, tbat nowe I bad
tbe ball at my foote, and migbt bring- Sir Robert Kerr
to wbat conditions I pleased ; for tbat tbis man's lifii
was so neere and deare unto bim, as I should have all
that my heart could desire, for the good and quiet of
the country and myselfe, if upon any condition I would
give bim bis life. I beard tbem and their reasons ;
notwithstanding, I called a jury tbe next morning, and
bee was found guilty of March Treason. Then
they feared tbat I would cause bim to be executed tbat
afternoone, which made them come flocking to mee,
humbly entreating mee, that I would spare his life till
the next day, and if Sir Robert Kerr came not him-
selfe to mee, and made me not such proffers, as I
could not but accept, that then I should do with him
what I pleased. And further, they told mee plainly,
tbat if I should execute him before I had heard from
Sir Robert Kerr, they must be forced to quit their
houses, and fly tbe country ; for his fury would be
such, against mee and tbe March I commanded, as bee
would use all his power and strength to the utter de-
struction of the East March. They were so earnest
with mee, tbat I aavc them mv word bee should not

APPENDIX, NO. 11. 249

dye that day. There was post upon post sent to Sir
Robert Kerr, and some of them rode to him themselves,
to advertise him in what danger Geordie Bourne was ;
how hee was condemned, and should have been exe-
cuted that afternoone, but, by their humble suit, I gave
them my word, that hee should not dye that day ; and
therefore besought him that hee would send to mee,
with all the speede hee could, to let mee know that
hee would be the next day with mee to offer mee good
conditions for the safety of his life.

" When all things were quiet, and the watch set at
night, after supper, about ten of the clock, I tooke one
of my men's Uveryes, and put it about mee, and tooke
two other of my servants with mee in their Uveryes,
and we three, as the warden's men, came to the provost
marshall's, where Bourne was, and were lett into his
chamber. Wee sate down by him, and told him that
wee were desirous to see him, because we heard hee
was stout and vaUant, and true to his friend ; and that
wee were sorry our master could not be moved to save
his life. He voluntarily of himselfe said, that hee had
lived long enough to do so many villainies as hee had
done ; and withal told us, that he had layne with about
forty men's wives, what in England, and what in Scot-
land ; and that hee had killed seven Englishmen with
his own hands, cruelly murthering them ; that hee had
spent his whole life in whoring, drinking, stealing, and
taking deep revenge for slight offences. He seemed
to be very penitent, and much desired a minister for

250 APPENDIX, NO. II.

the comforte of his soule. Wee promised him to lett
our master know his desire, who, wee knew, would
presently grant it. Wee took our leaves of him, and
presently I tooke order, that Mr Selby, a very worthy
honest preacher, should go to him, and not stirre from
him till his execution the next morning- ; for, after I
had heai'd his own confession, I was resolved no con-
ditions should save his life : and so tooke order, that
at the gates opening- the next morning-, hee should lie
carried to execution, ^^•hich accordingly \\as performed.
The next morning- I had one from Sir Robert Kerr for
a parley, who was within two miles staying- for me.
I sent him word, ' I would meet him where hee
pleased, but I would first know upon what terms and
conditions.' Before his man was returned, hee had
heard, that in the morning-, very early, Geordie Bourne
had been executed. Many vowes he made of crucll
revenge, and returned home full of grief and disdaine,
and from that time forward still plotted revenge. Hee
knew the g-entlemen of the country were altogether
sacklesse, and to malce open road upon the March
would Init show his malice, and lay him open to the
punishment due to such offences. But his practice
was how to be revenged on me, or some of mine.

" It was not long- after, that my brother and I had
intelligence that there was a great match made at
footeball, and the chiefe ryders were to be there. Tht>
place they were to meet at was Kelsy, and that day
wee heard it was the dav for the meeting. \A'ee pre-

APPENDIX, NO. II. 251

sently called a counsaile, and after much dispute, it
was concluded, that the likeliest place he was to come
to, was to kill the scoutes. And it was the more sus-
pected, for that my brother, before my coming to the
office, for the cattaile stolne out of the bounds, and, as
it were, from under the walles of Barwicke, being- re-
fused justice (upon his complaint), or at least delaid,
sent off the garrison into Liddesdale, and killed there
the chief oifender, which had done the wrong.

" Upon this conclusion, there was order taken, that
both horse and foote should lye in ambush in diverse
parts of the boundes, to defend the scoutes, and to give
a sound blow to Sir Robert and his company. Before
the horse and foote were sett out with directions what
to do, it was almost dark night, and the gates ready to
be lockt. Wee parted, and as I was by myselfe, come-
ing to my house, God put it into my mind, that it
might well be, hee meant destruction to my men that
I had sent out to gather tithes for mee at Norham,
and their rendezvous was every night to lye and sup
at an ale-house in Norham. I presently caused my
page to take horse, and to ride as fast as his horse
could carry him, and to command my servants (which
were in all eight) that, presently upon his coming to
them, they should all change their lodging, and go
streight to the castle, there to lye that night in strawe
and hay. Some of them were unwilling thereto, but
durst not disobey ; so altogether left their ale-house,
and retired to the castle. They had not well settled

252 APPENDIX, NO. n.

themselves to sleep, but they heard in the town a great
alarm ; for Sir Robert and his company came straight
to the ale-house, broke open the doors, and made en-
quiry for my servants. They were answered, that by
my command they were all in the castle. After they
bad searched all the house, and found none, they feared
they were betrayed, and, with all the speede they could,
made haste homewards again. Thus God blessed me
from this bloody tragedy.

" All the whole March expected nightly some hurt
to be done ; but God so blessed mee and the govern-
ment I held, as, for all his fury, hee never drew drop of
blood in all my March, neither durst his theeves
trouble it much with steahng, for fear of hanging, if
they were taken. Thus wee continued a yeare, and
then God sent a meanes to bring things to better quiet
by this occasion.

" There had been commissioners in Barwicke, chosen
by the Queene and King of Scottes, for the better
quieting of our Borders. By their industry they found
a great number of malefactors guilty, both in England
and Scotland ; and they tooke order, that the officers
of Scotland should deliver such offenders, as were
found guilty in their jurisdictions, to the opposite offi-
cers in England, to be detained prisoners, till they had
made satisfaction for the goods they had taken out of
P^ngland. The like order was taken with the AVardens
of England, and days prefixed for the delivery of them
all. And in case any of the officers, on either side.

APPENDIX, NO. II. 253

sliould omit their duties, in not delivering- tlie prison-
ers at the dayes and places appointed, that then there
should a course be taken by the soveraig-nes, that what
chiefe officer soever should oifend herein, hee himself
should be delivered and detained, till hee had made
good what the commissioners had ag-reed upon.

" The English officers did punctually, at the day
and place, deliver their prisoners, and so did most of
the officers of Scotland ; only the Lord of Bocleuch
and Sir Robert Kerr were faultie. They were com-
plained of, and new dayes appointed for the delivery of
their prisoners. Bocleuch was the first that should
deliver ; and hee failing-, entered himself prisoner into
Barwicke, there to remaine till those officers under his
charg-e were delivered to free him. Hee chose for his
g-uardian Sir William Selby, master of the ordnance at
Barwicke. When Sir Robert Kerr's day of dehvery
came, hee failed too, and my Lord Hume, by the king's
command, was to deUver him prisoner into Barwicke
upon the like terms, which was performed. Sir Ro-
bert Kerr (contrary to all men's expectation) chose
mee for his g-uardian, and home I brought him to my
own house, after he was delivered to mee. I lodged
him as well as I could, and tooke order for his diet,
and men to attend on him, and sent him word that
(although by his harsh carriage towards mee, ever
since I had that charge, he could not expect any fa-
vour, yet) hearing so much goodness of him, that hee

254 APPENDIX, NO. II.

never broke his worde, if hee would give mee bis band
and credit to be a true prisoner, bee would bave no
guard sett njwn him, but bave free liberty for bis
friends in Scotland to bave ingress and regress to bini
as oft as hee pleased. Hee tooke this very kindly
at my liandes, accepted of my offer, and sent mee
thankes.

" Some four dayes passed ; all which time bis
friends came into him, and bee kept bis chamber.
Then hee sent to mee, and desired mee, I would come
and speake with him, which I did ; and after a long
discourse, charging- and re-charging one another with
wrong and injuries, at last, before our parting, wee Ik'-
came good friends, with greate protestations, on his
side, never to give mee occasion of unkindnesse again.
After our reconciliation, hee kept his chamber no
longer, but dined and supt with mee. I tooke him
abroad with mee at the least thrice a-weeke, a bunt-
ing, and every day wee grew better friends. Bocleucb,
in a few days after, bad his pledges delivered, and was
set at liberty. But Sir Iiobert Kerr could not get his,
so that I was commanded to carry him to Yorke,
and there to deliver him prisoner to the archhisboj),
which accordingly I did. At our parting, bee profe-^s-
ed greate love unto nice fur the kind usage I bad
shown him, and that I would find the effects of it upon
his delivery, which hee hoped would be shortly.

" Thus wee parted; and, not long after, bis pledges

APPENDIX, NO. II. 255

were g"ott, and brought to Yorke, and hee sett at liber-
ty. After his retourne home, I found him as good as
his word. Wee met oft at dayes of truce, and I had
as g-ood justice as I could desire ; and so wee continued
very kinde and good friends, all the tyme that I stayed
in that March, which was not long."

256 APPENDIX. NO. III.

APPENDIX, No. III.

MAITLAND'S COMPLAYNT,

AGAINST

THE THIEVIS OF LIDDISDAIL.

FROM PINKERTON's EDITION, COLLATED WITH A MS. OF

MAITLANd's poems, in the library of EDINBURGH

COLLEGE.

Of Liddisdail the common theifis^
Sa peartlie stellis" now and reifis,^
That nane may keip
Horse, nolt,* nor scheip,^
Nor yett dar sleip
For their mischeifis.

Thieves ' Steal. — ' Rob. — * Black cattle ; oxeu ' Sheep.

APPENDIX, NO. in. 257

Thay plainly throw the country rydis,
I trow ^ the mekil devil thame gydis I
Quhair they onsett,
Ay in thair gait,"
Thair is na yet^
Nor dor thame bydis.*

Thay leif richt nocht, quhair ever thay ga ;
Their can na thing be hid them fra ;
For gif men wald
Thair housis hald,
Than wax they bald,
To burne and slay.

Thay theifis have neirhand^ herreit° haiP

Ettricke forest and Lawderdail ;

Now are they gane,

In Lawthiane ;

And spairis nane

That thay will waill.^

Thay landis ar with stouth^ sa socht,
To extreame povertye ar broucht,
Thay wicked scrowis^^
Has laid the plowis,"

' I wot.— « Way 3 Gate * Hinders — * Almost « Plun-

dered — ' The wliole. — ^ IMate choice of.. — ' Theft. — '" Larvae
(fig.)— U Ploughs.

VOL: I. R

258 APPENDIX, NO. III.

That nane or few is
That are left oucht.

Bot^ commoun taking- of blak mail,
They that had flesche, and breid and aill,
Now are sae wrakit.
Made bair and nakit.
Fane to be slakit
With watter caill.-

Thay theifis that steiUis and tursis^ hame,
Ilk ane o' them has ane to-name ;*
Will of the Lawis,
Hab of the Schawis :
To mak bar wawis^
Thay think nae schame.

Thay spuilye^ puir men of their pakis,'
Thay leif them nocht on bed nor bakis : *
Baith hen and cok.
With rail and rok,^

' But ; besides ' Rrotli of vegetables — ^ Pack up and earn-
off. — * Owing to the IMarchmen being divided into l»rge clans,
bearing the same sirname, individuals were usually distinguished
by some epithet derived from their place of residence, persouiJ qua-
lities, or descent. Thus every distinguished moss-trooper had
what is here called, a to-name, or nom de guerre, in addition to

tis family name — ' Bare walls. — '' Despoil ' Pack, or wallet.

^—8 Bread. — ' Both the spinning instrument and the yarn.

APPENDIX, NO. III. 259

The Laii'dis Jok,
All with him takis.

They leif not spindell, spoone, nor speit ; ^
Bed, boster, blanket, sark," nor scheit ;
Johne of the Parke
Ryps^ kist and ark ;*
For all sic wark
He is richt meit.

He is weil kend, John of the Syde ;
A greater theif did never ryde.
He never tyris
For to brek byris ; ^
Ouir muir and myris
Ouir g-uide ane gyde.

Thair is ane callet Clement's Hob,
Fra ilk puir wyfe reifis the wob,^
And all the lave,
Q,uhatever they haife,
The devil recaive
Thair foir his gob.''

To sic grit stouth qnha eir vvald trow it,
Bot gif some great man it allowit ?

' Spit — * Shirt — ^ Searches — •• Both clothes and meal-chests.
-' Cow-houses. — * Steals the web of cloth. — ' Blouth.

260 APPENDIX, NO. III.

Rycht sair I trew,
Thocht it be rew ^
Thair is sa few
That dar avow it.

Of sum great men they have sic gait,
That redy are thame to debait,
And will lip weir
Thair stolen geir,
That nane dare steir
Thame air" nor late.

Quhat cansis theifis us ourgang,
But want of justice us amang?
Nane takis care,
Thocht all for fear ;
Na man will spair
Now to do wrang.

Of stouth thocht now thay come gude speid,
That nother of men nor God has dreid.
Yet, or I dee.
Sum sail thame see,
Hing on a tree
Quhill thay be deid^

Quo Sir W. M. of Lethington, /mjc/^A
» Ruth— a pity » Early.

APPENDIX, NO. IV. 261

APPENDIX, No. IV.

BOND OF ALLIANCE,

OR

FEUD-STANCHING,

BETWIXT

THE CLANS OF SCOT AND KER :
A. D. 1329.

The battle of Melrose (see Introduction, p. 114) occasioned a
deadly feud betwixt the names of Scott and Ker. The fol-
lowing indenture was designed to reconcile their quarrel.
But the alliance, if it ever took effect, was not of long du-
ration ; for the feud again broke out about 1553, when Sir
If 'alter Scott was slain by the Kers in the streets of Edin-
burgh.

" Thir indentures, made at Ancnim the l6th of
March, 1529 years, contains, purports, and bears leil
and suithfast witnessing, That it is appointed, agreed,
and finally accorded, betwixt honourable men, that is

262 APPENDIX, NO. IV.

to say, Walter Ker of Cessford, Andrew Ker of Fair-
nielierst, Mark Ker of Dolphinston, George Ker, tutor
of Cessford, and Andrew Ker of Primesideloch, for
tliemselves, kin, friends, mentenants, assisters, allies,
adlierents, and partakers, on the one part ; and Waltfi
Scot of Branxholm, knight, Robert Scot of Allan -
haugh, Robert Scot, tutor of Howpaisly, John Scot o(
Roberton, and Walter Scot of Stirkshaws, for them-
selves, their kin, friends, mentenants, servants, assist-
ers, and adherents, on the other part ; in manner,
form, and effect, as after follows : For staunching all
discord and variance betwixt them, and for furthbear-
ing of the king's authority, and punishing trespasses,
and for amending all slaughters, heritages, and steed-
ings, and all other pleas concerning thereto, either of
these parties to others, and for unitie, friendship, and
concord, to be had in time coming, 'twixt them, of our
sovereign lord's special command : that is to say, either
of the said parties, be the tenor hereof, remits and for-
gives to others the rancour, hatred, and malice of their
hearts ; and the said Walter Scot of Branxholm shall
gang, or cause gang, at the will of the party, to the
four head pilgrimages of Scotland,^ and shall say a mass
for the souls of umquliile Andrew Ker of Cessford,
and them that were slain in his company, in the field
of Melrose ; and, upon his expense, shall cause a
chaplain say a mass daily, when he is disposed, in what

' These pilgrimages were Scone, Dundee, Piiisley, and IMelrose.

APPENDIX, NO. IV. 263

place the said Walter Ker and his friends pleases, for
the weil of the said souls, for the space of live years
next to come. — Mark Ker of Dolphinston, Andrew
Ker of Graden, shall gang- at the will of the party, to
the four head pilgrimages of Scotland, and shall gar
say a mass for the souls of umquhile James Scot of
Eskirk, and other Scots, their friends, slain in the field
of Melrose ; and, upon their expense, shall gar a chap-
lain say a mass daily, when he is disposed, for the heal
of their souls, where the said Walter Scot and his
friends pleases, for the space of three years next to
come : and the said Walter Scot of Branxholm shall
marry his son and heir upon one of the said Walter
Ker his sisters ; he paying therefor a competent por-
tion to the said Walter Ker and his heir, at the sight
of the friends of baith parties. And also, baith the
saids j^arties bind and oblige them, be the faith and
truth of their bodies, that they abide at the decreet and
dehverance of the six men chosen arbiters, anent all
other matters, quarrels, actiones, and debates, whilk
either of them likes to propone against others betwixt
the saids parties : and also the six arbiters are bound
and obliged to decreet and deliver, and give forth their
deliverance thereuntil, within the year and day after
the date hereof. — And, attour, either of the saids par-
ties bind and oblige them, by the faith and truth of
their bodies, ilk ane to others, that they shall be leil
and true to others, and neither of them will another's
skaith, but they shall lett it at their power, and give to

264 APPENDIX, NO. IV.

others their hest counsel, and it he asked ; and shall
take leil and aeffald part ilk ane with others, with their
kin, friends, servants, allies, and partakers, in all and
sundry their actions, quarrels, and debates, against all
that live and die (may the allegiance of our sovereign
lord the king allenarly be excepted.) — And for the
obliging and keeping all thir premises above written,
baith the saids parties are bound and obliged, ilk ane
to others, be the faith and truth of their bodies, but
fraud or guile, under the pain of perjury, men-swear-
ing, defalcation, and breaking of the bond of deadh .
And, in witness of the whilk, ilk ane to the procura-
tory of this indenture remain with the said Walter
Scot and his friends, the said Walter Ker of Cessford
has affixed his proper seal, with his subscription ma-
nual, and with the subscription of the said Andrew
Ker of Fairnieherst, Mark Ker of Dolphinston, George
Ker, tutor of Cessford, and Andrew Ker of Primeside-
loch, before these witnesses, Mr Andrew Drurie, Ab-
bot of Melrose, and George Douglas of Boonjedward.
John Riddel of that ilk, and William Stewart.

Sic S/ihscr/hifxr,
Walter Ker of Cessford.
Andrew Ker of Fairnieherst.
Mark Ker.
George Ker.
Andrew Ker <>f Prinu'sidelocli."

APPENDIX, NO. V. 265

APPENDIX, No. V.

ANE INTERLUDE
OF THE LAYING OF A GAIST.

This burlesque poem is preserved in the Bannatyne
MSS. It is in the same strain with the verses con-
cerning- the Gyre Carline. (Vol. II.) As the mention
of Bettokis Bowr occurs in both pieces, and as the
scene of both is laid in East Lothian, they are perhaps
composed by the same author. The humour of these
fragments seems to have been directed ag-ainst the su-
perstitions of Rome ; but it is now become very obscure.
Nevertheless, the verses are worthy of preservation,
for the sake of the ancient lang-uage and allusions.

Listen, lordis, I sail you tell,
Off ane very grit marvell,
Off Lord Fergussis gaist,^
How meikle Sir Andro it chest,-

Ghost Chased.

266 APPENDIX, NO. V.

Unto Beittokis bour,

The silly sawle to succour :

And he lies M-rittin unto me,

Auld storeis for to se,

Gif it appinis ^ him to meit.

How he sail conjure the spreit :

And I haif red mony quars, "

Bath the Donet, and Dominus que pars,

Ryme maid, and als redene^

Baith Inglis and Latene :

And ane story haif I to reid,

Passes Bonitatem in the creid.

To conjure the litill gaist he mon haif

Of tod's tails* ten thraif,^

And kast the grit holy water

With pater noster, pitter patter ;

And ye man sit in a compas,

And cry, Harbert tuthless.

Drag thow, and ye's draw,

And sit thair quhill cok craw.

The compas mon hallowit be

With aspergis me Domine :

The lialy writ schawls als

Thair man be hung about \our hals**

Pricket in ane woU poik "'

Of neis powder^ ane grit loik,^

' Happens « Quires— books ' Also road in. — * Foxos' tails—

(there is au alpine herb so termed from its resemblance.) — ■* Thereof.

— "Neck ' Wool-pack. — ^ ^■ose-powde^ (snulf.) — » CJreut lol>.

or lot

APPENDIX, NO. V. 267

Tliir thing-is mon ye beir

Brynt in ane doggis eir/

Ane pluck, ane pindill, and ane palme cors,

Thre tuskis of ane awld hors.

And of ane yallow wob the warp,

The boddome of ane auld herp.

The heid of ane cuttit reill,

The band of an awld qviheill,

The taill of ane yeild sow.

And ane bait of blew wow,°

Ane botene,^ and ane brechame,*

And ane quhorle made of lame,^

Tu hike out at the htill boir,'^

And cry, Crystis cross, you befoir :

And quhen you see the litill gaist,

Cumand to you in all haist,

Cry loud, Cryste eleisone.

And speir what law it levis on ? "^

And gif it sayis on Godis ley,

Than to the litill gaist ye say,

With braid benedicite ;

— " Litill gaist, I conjure the,

With lierie and larie,^

Bayth fra God, and Sanct Marie,

First with ane fischis mouth.

And syne with ane sowis towth,

' Burnt in a dog's ear. — ^ Blue-wool. — ' Button.' — * Horse-col-
lar * A whirl made of metal ^ Window. — ^ Believes in. —

^ With laying and with lore.

268 APPENDIX, NO. V.

With ten pertane tais, ^
And nyne knokis of windil strais,
With thre heids of curie doddy." ^
And bid the gaist turn in a boddy.
Then efter this conjuratioun,
The htill gaist will fall in soun,
And thair efter down ly,
Cryand mercy peteously ;
Than with your left heil sane,^
And it will nevir cum ag-aine,
As meikle as a mige amaist.'*

He had a litill we leg,
And it wes cant as any cleg, ^
It wes wynd in ane wynden schet,
Baith the handis and the feit :
Suppose this gaist was littill,
Yit it stal Godis quhltell ;•"'
It stal frae peteous Abrahame,
Ane quhorle and ane quhim quhame ; "^
It stal frae ye carle of ve mone
Ane payr of awld yin schone ; ^
It rane to Pencatelane,
And wirreit^ ane awld chaplane.

' Ten crabs' claws » A small plant in niarsbos ^ Sign make

the sign of the cross.— < Appar.Mitly some linos are here omitted.

— ' Gad-fly.—" Kiiiic • Whirl and ivhini-whaiu. — « Oue-solcd

shot's. — '■■ M'orriod.

APPENDIX, NO. V. 269

This litill gaist did na mair ill
But clok^ lyk a corn mill ;
And it vvald play and hop,
About the heid ane stre strop •,^
And it wald sing;, and it wald dance
Oure fute, and Orliance.^

Quha conjurit the litill gaist say ye ?
Nane but the litill Spenzie fle,*
That with hir wit and her ingyne,
Gart the gaist leif agane ;
And sune mareit the gaist the fie,
And croun'd him King of Kandelie ;
And they gat theme betwene
Orpheus King and Elpha Quene.^
To reid quha will this gentill geist,
Ye hard it not at Cockilby's feist. °

^ Clacked. — ^ Twist a straw about its head * Overfoot and Or-
leans—two dancing steps. — * Spanish fly ^ This seems to allude

to the old romance of Orfeo and Heurodis, from which the reader
will find some extracts. Vol. II. The wife of Orpheus is here
called Elpha, probably from her having been abstracted by the
elves, or fairies. — " Alluding to a strange unintelligible poem in
the Bannatyue MSS., called Cockelhys Sou: [This has been
printed lately by Mr David Laing, of Edinburgh, 1830.]

270 APPENDIX, NO. VI,

APPENDIX, No. VI.

SUPPLEMENTARY STANZAS

TO COLLINS'S ODE ON
THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

BY

WILLIAM ERSKINE, ESQ. ADVOCATE.^

The Editor embraces this opj^ortunity of presentiiii;-
the reader with the following' stanzas, intended to com-
memorate some striking- Scottish superstitions, omitted
by Collins in his Ode upon that subject ; and which,
if the Editor can judge with impartiality of the pro-
duction of a valued friend, will be found worthy of the
sublime original. The reader must observe, that these
verses form a continuation of the address, by Collins,
to the author of Douglas, exhorting him to celebrate
the traditions of Scotland. They were lirst published
in the Edinhurgh Magazine, for April, 1788.

' [ This accomplisliod and most dear friend of Sir Valtor Scoft,
bocamo a judge of the Court of Session, by the title of Lord Kiu-
Qcdder, and died in August )822 — Ed.]

APPENDIX, NO. VI. 271

Thy muse may tell, bow, when at evening''s close,

To meet her love beneath the twilight shade,
O'er many a broom-clad brae and heathy glade,

In merry mood the villag-e maiden goes ;
There, on a streamlet's margin as she Ues,

Chanting some carol till her swain appears,
With visage deadly pale, in pensive guise,

Beneath a wither'd fir his form he rears !^
Shrieking and sad, she bends her eirie flight,

When, mid dire heaths, where flits the taper blue,
The whilst the moon sheds dim a sicklv light,

The airy funeral meets her blasted view !
When, trembling, weak, she gains her cottage low.

Where magpies scatter notes of presage wide,
Some one shall tell, while tears in torrents flow.

That, just when twilight dimmed the green hill's side,
Far in his lonely shiel her hapless shepherd died.

Let these sad strains to lighter sounds give place
Bid thy brisk viol warble measures gay !

For, see ! recall'd by thy resistless lay.

Once more the Brownie shows his honest face.

^ The wraith, or spectral appearance, of a person shortly to die,
is a firm article in the creed of Scottish superstition. Nor is it
unknown in our sister kingdom. See the story of the beautiful
Lady Diana Hich. — Aubrey's Miscellanies, p. 89.

272 APPENDIX, NO. VI.

Hail, from thy wanderings long-, mv much-loved sprite

Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail !
Tell, in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,

Trail'st the long mop, or whirl'st the mimic tlaiL
Where dost thou deck the much disorder'd hall.

While the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps,
With early voice to drowsv workman call,

Or lull the dame, while Mirth his vigils keeps ?
'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said,

Thou plied'st the kindly task in years of yore :
At last, in luckless hour, some erring maid

Spread in thy nightly cell of viands store :
Ne'er was thy form heheld among their mountains
more.^

Then wake (for ^\^e\\ thou canst) that wondrous lav,

How, while around the thoughtless matrons sleep,
Soft o'er the floor the treach'rous fairies creep,

And bear the smiling infant far awav :
How starts the nurse, when, for her lovelv child,

She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare I
O snatch the innocent from demons vilde,

And save the parents fond from fell despair !
In a deep cave the trusty menials wait,

When from their hilly dens, at midnight's hour,
Forth rush the airy elves in mimic state,

And o'er the moonlight-heath with swiftness scour ;

' See lutroJuction, ante.

APPENDIX, NO. VI, 273

In glittering arms the little horsemen shine ;

Last on a milk-white steed, with targe of gold,
A fay of might appears, whose arms entwine

The lost, lamented child ! the shepherds bold^
The unconscious infant tear from his unhallow'd hold.

' For an account of the Fairy superstition, see Introduction to
the Tale of Tamlane,

274 APPENDIX, NO. VII.

APPENDIX, No. VII.

EXCOMMUNICATION OF BORDER
ROBBERS.

BY RICHAKD FOX,
BISHOP OF DURHAM, IX THE TIME OF HENRY VII.

This very curious document, (A.D. 1498,) ^\liicli contaius some
particulars highly illustrative of the state of Border manners, was
given to the Editor by his valued friend, Richard Surtees, Esq.
of Mainsforth, in the bishopric of Durham, eminent for his
knowledge of Border antiquities.

RICH. FOX, Bp. temp. H. J.

MONITIO CONTRA FAMOSOS LATRONES DE TYNDAI.L
ET RYDSDALL.

EiCARDUS permissione divina Dxmelm. Episcopus
dilectis Nobis Mag:""". Georg-. Ogle, A.INI. necnon uni-
versis et singulis ecclesiarum parochialium infra Tvn-
(lallc et lliddysdale nostnc dioces. constitut. Kectori-
biis et Yicariis, necnon Capellarum et Cantanarum inihi
Capellanis, Curatis, et uon Curatis, Saluteui. Quia

APPENDIX, NO. VII. 275

tarn fiima quam notorietate facti referentibus ad aures
nostras delatum est quod nonnulli Villas, Villulas,
Hamelectas, et alia loca de Tyndale et Ryddisdalle
inhabitantes, nee divina nee humana jura timentes,
quibus se illaqueatos esse (quod summopere dolemus)
intelligunt, aut saltern intelligere debent, de eisdem
Villis Villulis Hamelectis ad in episcopatu villas, villu-
las, hamelectas, ad et in episcopatum Dunelm. et co-
mitatum Northumbrise, aliaq. loca dictis locis de Tyn-
■dalle et Ryddisdalle confinia et adjacentia, Latronum,
Rapientium ac Deprsedantium, more, per diuturna tem-
pora saepe, ssepius, et saepissime, publice et manifeste,
nocte dieq. ineurrentes, prout adhue indies, cotidie,
saepe, ssepius, et saepissime, noctu dieq. publice et ma-
nifeste, sic incurrunt, furta, latrocinia, rapinas, et de-
praedationes passim committentes, pecora et catalla in
eisdem inventa furati depraedatiq. fuerunt, et ab eis-
dem ad partes et territoria de Tyndall et Ryddisdalle
praedict. aliaq. loca eisdem confinia, ad libitum suarum
voluntatum asportaverunt, fugaverunt, et abigerunt,
prout adhuc indies nuUi equidem rei, quam, hujusmodi
furtis, latrociniis, rapinis, et depraedationibus, dediti, fu-
rantur, depraedantur, fugant et abigunt : Et quod ipso
delicto deterius est, per tabernas, et alia loca publica, ini-
quitatibus, furtis, latrociniis, et depraedationibus suis hu-
jusmodi gloriantes se talia commisisse, et de castero
committere palam et publice jactari non desinant ;
hisq. malis non contenti, sed potius furtum furto, latro-
cinium latrocinio, rapinara rapinae, depraedationem de-

27G APPENDIX, NO. VII.

preedationi, aliaq.mala malis accumulantes, inbiijusmculi
furtorum, latrociniorum, et deprsedationum ag-grava-
tionem, non solum ipsi furantur, verum etiam fures et
latrones et raptores quoscunq. ad ipsos confugientes,
receptant, nutriunt, hospitantur, confovent et confor-
tant ; suosq. liberos, servientes, atq. famulos in hujus-
modi latrociniorum, furtorum, deprsedationum, et rapi-
narum perpetratione, quod maxime detestandum est,
educant, et exercitant, adeo ut furtum, latrocinium,
deprsedationem, rapinam, aut robberiam hujusmodi
committere, aut eidem consentire, non solum non ve-
reantur, sed crassam, immo verius quaesitam ignoran-
tiam prtetendentes, et dictas rapinas, furtum, et depr;e-
dationes, tanquam artem, unde victum suum quserant,
publice et manifeste profitentes, crimen esse non ag-
noscunt : Suntq. nonnuUi viri in partibus praedictis,
quorum quidam sunt ininistri justitise et regii justicia-
rii, qui eosdem fures, latrones, depraedatores, et rap-
tores, aliosq. malefactores rectificare et justiiicare de-
berent, quidam vero sunt viri nobiles et potentes in
continibus et territoriis de Tyndalle et Ryddisdalle
pra'dictis, aliisq. villis eisdem convicinis, circumvicinis,
et adjacentibus degentcs et commorantes, qui fures,
latrones, raptores, depriedatores predictos ab hujusmodi
criminibus praedictis refraenare et impedire possent, si
suas ad id manus, ut deberent, porrigerent adjutrices :
Quorum omnium, viz. justitiae ministrorum, et aliorum,
saltern nobilium et potentium, in partibus et territoriis
do Tyndalle et Kyddysdalle pritdictis', aliisq. villis et

APPENDIX, NO. VII. 277

locis eisdem convicinis et circumvicinis adjacentium,
quidam conniventi oculo, qiiidam ex pacto et coUu-
sione, quidam vero propter lucrum, quod cum eis par-
ticipant, nonmiUi siquidem propter amorem, favorem,
familiaritatem, affinitatem, et sanguinis conjunctionem,
necnon nominis, indemnitatem hujusmodi furtis, latro-
ciniis, rapinis, et deprsedationibus, aliquando tacite, in-
terdum etenim expresse, consentientes, fures ipsos, la-
trones, et deprsedatores per eorum terras et districtus
cum rebus, pecoribus, et catallis, quae furati sunt, libe-
rum habere transitum, scienter tolerant et permittunt ;
ac nonnunquam eosdem cum rebus, pecoribus, et ca-
tallis, raptis, depraedatis, et furto ablatis, receptarunt,
prout adhuc recipiunt indies, et receptant non igno-
rantes receptatores hujusmodi quoscunq. non minori
poena dignos quam raptores, fures, latrones, et prae-
dones : Nam si non esset qui foveret, reciperet, et
confortaret, nullus rapinam, latrocinium, depraedationes
hujusmodi committeret, committereve auderet : Eo-
demq. delicto sing-ulas villas, yillulas, hamelectas dic-
tarum partium de Tyndall et Ryddisdall laborare intel-
leximus, quod maxime abhorrendum est ; nam latrones,
fures, raptores, depraedatores famosos et manifestos sic,
ut praefertur, recipiunt, hospitantur, fovent, et nutri-
unt, ac inter eos et cum eisdem in partibus praesenti-
bus, ut vicinos suos et familiares, habitare permittunt,
et ad eadem'facinora reiteranda invitant, et confortant
publice, palam, et manlfeste : Compluresq. capellanos,
saepe nominatarum partium et territoriorumde Tyndalle

278 APPENDIX, NO. VII.

et Ryddysdalle, publicos et manifestos concubinarios,
irregulares, suspenses, excommunicatos, et interdictos,
necnon literarum penitus ignaros, adeo ut per decen-
nium celebrantes, nee ipsa quidem verba sacramen-
talia, uti quibusdam eorum opponentes experti sumus,
legere sciant ; nonnullos etiam non ordinatos, sed sa-
cerdotii effigiem duntaxat prsetendentes, non modo in
locis sacris et dedicatis, verum etiam in prophanis et
interdictis ac miserabiliter ruinosis ; necnon vestimen-
tis ruptis, laceratis, et faedissimis, nee divino, immo
nee humano officio aut servitio dignis, quibus, deum
contemnentes, induti Divina celebrare, Sacraq. et Sa-
cramentalia ministrare intelleximus. Dicti praeterea
capellani supradictis furibus, latronibus, depraedatoribus,
receptatoribus, et raptoribus manifestis et famosis, sa-
cramenta et sacramentalia ministrant, sine debita res-
titutione aut animo restituendi, ut ex facti evidentia
constat, sicq. eos sine cautione de restituendo, ecclesi-
asti(ae sepulturae, cum ex sacrorum canonum, et sanc-
torum patrum institutis, h?ec facere districte prohiben-
tur, passim committunt, in animarum suarum grave
pericuhnn, aliorumq. Christi lidelium exemphim per-
niciosum, pluriniorumq. spoliatorum et privatonim bo-
nis, rebus, pecoribus, et catallis suis hujusniodi, dam-
num non modicum et gravamen. Nos igitur auimarum
hujusmodi malefactorum saluti jtrovidere cupientes,
spoliatorumq. et privatorum hujusmodi jacturis et dis-
])endiis paternali afFectu compatientes, et, quantum in
nobis est, rcmedium in hac parte ajiponere, ut tene-

APPENDIX, NO. VII. 279

mur, volentes, vobis omnibus et sing-ulis Rectoribus,
Vicariis, Capellanis, Curatis, et non Curatis prsedic-
tis tenore prsesentium, in virtute sanctse obedientise fir-
miter injungendo mandamus, quatenus proximis diebus
dominicis et festivis, inter missarum et aliorum divi-
norum solemnia in ecclesiis et capellis vestris, dum
major in eisdem aderit populi multitude, omnes et
sing-ulos fures, latrones, raptores, prsedones, depreeda-
tores, et eos prsesertim quos famosos et manifestos la-
trones, raptores, et depreedatores fuisse et esse intel-
leximus, quorum nomina in prsesenti rescripto sunt de-
scripta, peremptorie moneatis, quos nos etiam tenore
praesentium primo, secundo, et tertio, ac peremptorie
monemus, ut ipsi, omnes et singuli, ab hujusmodi in-
cursionibus, furtis, latrociniis, rapinis, depraedationibus
de caetero se abstineant et desistant, sub psena ma-
jor is excommunicationis sententise, quam ex sacrorum
canonum institutis incurrunt, sicq. eos et eorum quem-
libet incurrere volumus ipso facto.

Citetis insuper, seu citari faciatis peremptorie omnes
et sing-ulos famosos et manifestos fures, latrones, rap-
tores, et deprsedatores, quorum nomina sunt in dorso
prsesentis schedulae sive rescripti descripta, et eorum
quemlibet, quod compareant, sicq. quilibet eorum com-
pareat, coram nobis, aut nostro in hac parte commissa-
rio, in Galilea^ Ecclesise nostrae Cathedralis Dunelm.

' The Galilee was a side chapel to which excommunicated per-
sons had liberty of repairing, while service was celebrated. The
Galilee at Durham is now a school-room.

280 APPSXDIX, NO. VII.

locoq. consistoriali ejusdein, sexto die post citatioiHi-.i
eis et eorum cuilibet in hac parte factam, si juridicvs
fuerit, alioquin proximo die juridico extunc sequente,
quo die nos aut commissarium nostrum hujusmodi ibi-
dem ad jura reddend. hora consueta pro tribunali sedere
contigerit, certis articulis et interrogatonis, meram ani-
marum suarum salutem et correctionem concernentibus,
commissario eisdem et eorum cuilibet in eorum adventu
ex officio nostro mero objicientlis personaliter respon-
suri et parituri. Moneatis insuper sic, ut prsemittitur,
peremptorie omnes et sing-ulos ministros justitiae, c£ete-
rosq. viros nobiles et potentes, dictas partes et terri-
toria de Tyndall et Ryddysdall, et loca vicina et cir-
cumjacentia inhabitantes, necnon omnes et sing-ulos
Capellanos, Curatos, et non Curatos, in eisdem parti-
bus et territoriis de Tyndall et Ryddysdall divina colc-
brantes, quatenus ipsi justitiae ministri et viri nobiles
et potentes omnes et singulos fures et latrones, necnon
raptores et depra?datores, in et ad partes et territoria de
Tyndall et Ryddysdall cum rebus, pecoribus, et catallis
furtive oblatis, confugientes, necnon omnes et singulos
fures, latrones, et deproedatores in eisdem partibus et
territoriis de Tyndall et Ryddysdall commorantes et
degentes, praesertim famosos, publicos, notorios, et ma-
nifestos nullatenus fovcant, nutriant, aut confortent,
bospitentur, aut mamiteneant, immo eosdem fures, la-
trones, et depra'datoros qnoscunq. ab eisdem partibus et
territoriis de Tyndall et Ryddysdall amoveant, sicq.
amoveri faciant et procurent, seu saltern eosdem fures,

APPENDIX, NO. VII. 281

latrones, depraedatores, et raptores quoscimq. capiant,
sicq. capi faciant eosdemq. rectificent et justificent.

Capellani vero, Curati, et non Curati, in eisdem par-
tibus et territoriis divina celebrantes, hujusmodi fures,
latrones, et deprsedatores, saltern publicos, notorios, et
manifestos, ad sacramenta psenitentise, eucharistiae, se-
pultiirae, cseteraq. sacramenta aut sacramentalia sine
debita restitutione spoliatis facta, aut sufficient! cau-
tione de restituendo praestita, nisi in mortis articulo, et
tunc ad sacramenta psenitentiae et eucharistiae duntaxat,
non autem ad sepulturam, sub paena suspensionis ab
officio et beneficio, nuUatenus admittant. * * * * *

TESTIMONIALIS LITERA DNI. EPISCOPI SUPER ABSO-
LUTIONE QUORUNDAM LATRONUM, ET INJUNCTI-
ONES.

RiCARDUS permissione divina Dunelm. Episcopus
universis et singulis Rectoribus, Vicariis, Capellanis,
Curatis, et non Curatis quibuscunq. curam animarum
habentibus, infra territorium de Tyndall et Ryddysdall
uostrae dioces. Salutem, gratiam, et benedictionem,
Sciatis Sandy Charelton, Crysty Milborn, Howy Mil-
born, Atkin Milborn filium Willielmi Milborn, Laury
Robeson, Davy Robeson, Sandy Robeson, Gilly Tod
of ye Crake-aller of Smebemouth, George Tod, Rouly
Tod, Tammy Tod, Sandy Tod of ye Shaive, George Mer-
shell, Sandy Hunter, a sententia excommunicationis,

282 APPENDIX, NO. VII.

quamineosdem, pro eoriim contumacia,promiilgavimu-.
joro nos absolutes esse, et communioni hominum ac
sacris ecclesise restitutos, seq. nostrse correctioni humi-
liter submittentes, injunctiones salutaremve suscepisse
paenitentiam, videlicet ut de csetero rapinam, furtum,
aut latrocinium publice, manifeste, vel occulte non com-
mittant, nee aliqiiis eoriim committat, aut talia commit-
tenti auxilium, consilium, vel favorem prsestent, nee
aliquis eorum prsestet, seu talia committentium consi-
lium quovismodo celent seu celet, celarive procurent
seu procuret. Item quod post diem Merc, proximo
futurum, viz. 26 diem mensis Septembris jam instant,
non incedant nee aliquis eor. incedat pedes aut eques
inductus subicinio, Anglice, aJacke, aut galea, Anglice,
a Salet or a Knapescall, aut aliis armis defensivis qui-
busc. nee equitent aut eor. aliquis equitet super equo aut
equa cujus valor, communi homimnn lestimatione, ex-
cedet sex solidos et octo denarios, nisi contra Scotos
vel alios reg-is inimicos. Injung-imus proeterea quod
postquam ingressi fuerint vel eor. aliquis ingressus fu-
erit copmiterium, ecclesise vel capelbe cujuscunque infra
territorium de Tynedall et Kiddisdall ad divina inibi
audiend. vel orationes inibi faciend. seu alia quiecunq.
faciend. abjiciant seu deponant, sicq. eor. quilibet abji-
<iat et dejjonat arma invasiva qurec. si quje habeant, si
ad longitudincm unius cubiti se extendant, et quamdiu
fuerint seu aliquis eor. fuerit infra eaiul. eel''""'- seu ca-
])ell. aut ccemiter. ejusd. cum nullo sermonem aut ver-
bum habeat, nisi cum Curato aut Saccrdote illius ec-

APPENDIX, NO. VII. 283

clios vel capellae, sub psena excomm. majoris, quam in
eos et eorum quemlibet casu quo his nostris injuncti-
onibus aut uni Gor. non paruerint, cum efFectu exnunc
prout extunc, et extunc prout exnunc, promulgamus,
in scriptis justitia mediante vobis igitur, &c. Dat. in
castro n^o- de Norham sub s. n"""- 25 die mens. Sept.
A.D. 1498.

284 APPENDIX, NO. VIII.

APPENDIX, No. VIII.

DOUBLE OF THE CONTRACT

BETWIXT THE

KING AND SEVERAL OF HIS SUBJECTS.
(a.d. 1612.)

[The original of this curious brief, by which the Borderers re-
nounced their vocation of theft and robbery, is in the hanils of
the Editor, whose ancestor is one of the parties subscribing.
Similar bonds were doubtless executed by the other clans ;
among whom copies would bo distributed for their subscription.
This appears to have referred chiefly to the clan of Scott.]

We noblemen, barons, laiulit i^cntilnion. and uthors,
under subscryveing;, doi])ly considoring- with ourselves
the wrackfuU and intollerable calamities soe long' sus-
tained be us, our frends, our servants, and inliabitants,
upon proper lands and heretages, at the hands of
theives and murtherers, within the Ilighhmds and
Bordours ; whereby our bloods have been cruelly shed,

APPENDIX, NO, VTTI. 285

our goods be opin depredation violentlie reft and
spulzied, and our most plentiful! and profitable roumes,
for fear of their incursions and oppressions, left deso-
lat and desert, without tennent or inhabitant, to our
inexcuseable reproach and shameful wrack, if wee sail
any longer neglect to use sic lawfuU and allowable re-
medies as God, our honor, and the memorable ex-
amples of our worthie predecessors, still extant in the
records of ther days, craves at our hands, for the re-
pressing of their insolence : And considering, ther-
withall, the royall and princelie disposition of our most
gracious soverane lord, utterit everie way for the sup-
pressing of this infamous byke ^ of lawless limmers, and
ijuliat earnest and faithfull dutie our ranks and places
craves of us, for the furtherance of his Majesties most
honorable resolution at this tyme, for the extermina-
tion of sic a venime, whereby our oursights hithertill
has bein na litle hinder to the good success of the
great care and paynes tane alwayes be his highness
and his secret counsell, to work the said eft'ect : Thair-
fore, and for remeid of our bypast slouth that way, in
the fear of God, and with his Majesties gracious ap-
probation and allowance, we all and everie ane of us
have solemnly avowit, sworne, and protestit, like as,
be the tenor heirof we avow, swear, and protest, upon
our consciences and honors, that, as we are in hearts
trew and faithfull, and obedient subjects, to the King's

» Nest.

286 APPENDIX, NO. VIII.

Majestle, our sovereign lord and his authoritie, and
alwayes answerable to his hienes laws ; so, in our
hearts, we abhorre, dampne, and detest all treason,
murther, fire-ryseing, reviseing- of women, thift, ressct
of thift, fortifeieng or assisting with theives, shedding
of true mens blood, common and manifest oppression,
resset of persons excommunicat, or at the home,' im-
criminall causes, with the authors and committor
thereof whatsumever ; in further taken whereof, \\ r
bind and obleis us, our aires and successors of our bun Is
and heretages, to our soverane lord and his successois.
that, within ten dayes after our subscription to the
present, we sail discharge, and be oppin proclamation
at the Mercat-croces of heid-burrowes within the
shrifdomes, quherin the theives and limmers dwell, as
also be particular intimation to themselfs, give up all
bands of friendship, kyndnes, oversight, maintenance,
or assureance, if ony we have, with common theives
and broken clans or branches, unanswereable to his
hienes lawes ; and sail, fra then furth, affauldlie" and
truelie, joyne and concurre together, als weill in action
as in heart, to the pursute, with fire and sword, of all
and whatsumever within this realm, of Avhatsumevor
clane, qualitie, or surname, who being charged, 1)C ojiiu
proclamacione, to compeir to answer to complaints,
and to relieve ther masters at his majestie and true
mens hands, are or sail for ther disobedience be do-

* Outlawed.—* Simply ; sincerely.

appethDix, no. VIII. 237

nounced fugitives and outlawes, tog-ether with what-
soever ther partakers, supliers, and recepters, and all
sic other, as frae the tyme they he denimced fugitives,
sail furnish to them, ther wyfes or families, meat, drhik,
herhore, or other confort qiihatsumever : As lykewayes
we hind and obleis us, in maner foresaid, that if any
persone, dwelling within our houses, upon our lands,
within our tackes, steadings, roumes, portiounes, bail-
leries, or other office or jurisdiction quhatsumever,
commits ony of the crymes before expreimit, or any
uther punishable be lyfe or member, we, or any of us
under quhom the said persone dwells, being required
thereto be his majesties letters valyentnes, or charges,
or be his highnes consell or justice, sail neither di-
rectlie, nor indirectlie, give any warning or advertise-
ment to him, quherby he may eschew his taking ;
but trewlie and effauldlie sail apprehend, bring and
present him to underly his tryell of the cryme quher-
of he is dilatit, upon fiftein dayes warneing, without
shift or excuse quhatsumever, as we sail ansuer to his
majestie upon our honours, and under the paynes con-
tained in the generall bond and acts of Parliament
quhatsumever ; and sail be comptable to our soverane
lord and his hienes thesaurer, for their escheats, in cace
they be convict ; and, in case the persone or persons
sa delatit, becomes fugitives, wharby we cannot appre-
hend them to be presentit, we sail expell, put and hold
them furth of our bounds, heretages, tacks, and steid-
,ings, roumesj bailliaries, and jurisdictions quhatsum*

LJSb APPENDIX, NO. VIII.

ever, togither with ther wyfes, bairnes, and families, and
sail take fra them their stocke and steiding, and put in
uther persones to occupy the same ; and if it sail happin
the saids malefactors to resort or come again within
our bounds, or be suiferit to remain therein, with our
witting-, twelff hours togithir, or to repair with our
knowledg-e to oppin mercat unapprehendit, in that cace
we grant and confes us to be culpable of quhatsumever
crymes or skaithes committit be them at any time be-
fore or therefter : And if it shall happen at any tyme
heirefter, ony creatures, rebells to our soverane lords
authoritie, for criminall causes, to repair within our
bounds, or any pairt of the shirriffdome quharein we
dwell, we sail be readie to ryse and concurre, with our
friends and forces, to ther pursute, till they be either
apprehendit and presented to justice, or put out of the
sherifTdome quharein we dwell ; moreover, none of us
herefter sail tryst or assure with any declared theeves
or fugitives, but quhensoever any affray of theeves
or reivers happens within our bounds or jurisdictions
forsaids, we shall at the affray or forray, be ourselves,
our servants, kin, freinds, and sae many partakers as
we may get, ryse, follow, and jjursue the saids theeves
and reivers, at the outermost of our power, as we wold
doe to the rescue of our owne proper goods in cace they
were in the lyke danger, being alwayes warned thereto
be the scout-baillie in the coxmtrie, requisitione of ])artie,
or otherwayes quhatsumever : And if it be found,
that we ly still at siclikc effrayes, and suffers the saids

APPENDIX, NO. VIII. 289

theeves and rubbers to pass throw our bounclls, with-
out purseuing them and making uther thorture or im-
pediment we may, ni that eace we accept on us the
guiltiness of quhatsumever theft or uther cryme that
they commit, as perters with them therin and punishe-
able therefore, conforme to the act of parHament : And
if it shall happin any stowth-reiff^ or oppression to be
committed at any tyme heirefter, upon any his hienes
subjects, be any inhabitants within our boundis and
jurisdictionis forsaids, the same being notified to us be
the owners of the goods, or any uther follower therof
in ther names, and the persone and place showin to us
be quhom the gudes are stollen, and quhar they are
resett within our boundis, we sail, immediatlie therefter,
be ourselves, or be some speciall friend or servant, ayde
and addresse us to the said place, and finding the goods
ther, shall see them rendered to the follower, without
gratitude or good deid, and therwith sail apprehend the
theif, if he be present on the ground, or can be found
within our bounds, then, or at any tyme therefter, and
present him to his majestie, or to his justice, to be
punished according to his merit ; or, if we cannot find
him, we shall intimate his name to the shrifF, Stewart,
or wardane, to be denunced fugitives be them at the
Mercat-croce of the next heidburgh, that he, his wyfe,
and familie, therefter may be used in manner foresaid :
Likewayes, that nane of us heirefter sail, aither opinlie

' Robbery.
VOL. I. T

290 APPENDIX, NO. VIII.

or privalie, for any theif-liider, entertainer, or resetter
of theft or theftous goods, assist nor defend them di-
recthe nor indirecthe, soHsit for their impunitie, or bear
grudg-e, rancoure, or quarrell againes any man for their
dilatione, apprehension, or pursute in any sort, under
the paine of infame and acceptance upon us of the
guiltines of the said cryme, in cace they be convict :
And- if it sail happen us, or any of us, at onv tvme
heirefter, to meit with ony notorious theif or lymmer,
whom we may tak, we sail not failhe to apprehend,
keip, and detaine him, in sure capptivitie and tirmance,
•unfred, or set to libertie, upon quhatsomever band, pro-
mise, restitutione, or assurance he can g-iue us ; but
sail present him to his majestie, his counsell, or justice,
to be punished for his offence, under the payne, like-
wayes, to be repute culpable of his theftuous deids, and
punishable accordinglie : And finaUie, that we ourselves
and all sic persons quhatsumever, as dwells upon our
lands and uthers forsaids, sail alwayes be answerable
to our soverane lord and his authoritie, and sail com-
peir before his hienes and his counsell, quhensoever we
shall happin to be charg-ed for that effect, under the
paines contained in the acts of caution found for obser-
vation of the g-enerall bands : And gif for execution of
any of the premisses, we, or any of us, be quarrelled
be ony clan, brensche, or surname, to whom the theoves
pertaines, we bind and obleis us and our foresaids,
affauldlie and truelie, to concurre and assist with others
against the brcnsch, surname, or dami, that quarrells,

APPENDIX, NO. Vni.

291

as if it were our proper cause ; and sail esteem the feid,
if any follow, equall to us all. In witnes quhareof, our
soverane lord, in taken of his said approbation, and
allowance of the premisses, and evere ane of us, for us
and our forsaids, have subscryvit this present, to be
insert and registrat in the books of the secret counsell,
and to have the strength of ane decreit thereof against
the contraveiners. Wherunto our subscriptions sail
serue for ane sufficient warrant for everie ane of us.
This band, written by William WyUie, clerk, Sic

subscribitur. James R Lenox — Huntlie — Montross,

Cancellarius — Angus — Herys — Caithness — Traquair
Lochinvar — Johnstoun — Drumlangric — David Scot of
StobneiU. Apud Jedburgh, 29th March, 1612, Walter
Scot of Goldielands, Walter Scot of Tishelaw, Robert
Scot, his sone, James Gledstanes of Cocklaw, William
Elliot of Falneish, Robert Scot of Satsheills, Walter
Scot of Harden, Sym Scot of Bonniton, and William
Scot in Burnfute, in the Water of Aill, with our hands at
the pen, led be James Primerose, clerk of counsell, at
our command. J. Primerose. Roltert Scott in Stirkfield,
with hand at the pen, led be William Wyly, wryter of
this band. William Scot of Hartwoodmyres, Philip
Scot of Dryhope, Robert Scot of Aikwood, William
Scot of Howpasly. Jedburgh, 29th of October, 1612,
William Scot of Whythaught, James Scot of Gilmers-
cleugh, and John Dalgleish of Douchar, with our hands
at the pen, led be William Wylie, clerk. W. WyUie.

MINSTRELSY

OF THE

SCOTTISH BORDEE.

PART FIRST.

^is-t0rifal mUats^.

[ 295 ]

SIR PATRICK SPENS.

One edition of the present ballad is well known ; ha-
ving- appeared in the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, and
having been inserted in almost every subsequent col-
lection of Scottish songs. But it seems to have oc-
curred to no editor, that a more complete copy of the
song might be procured. That, with which the public
is now presented, is taken fi'om two MS. copies,^ col-
lated with several verses, recited by the editor's friend,
Robert Hamilton, Esq. advocate^ — ^being- the 16th and
the four which follow. But, even with the assistance
of the common copy, the ballad seems still to be a
fragment. The cause of Sir Patrick Spens's voyage is,
however, pointed out distinctly ; and it shows that the

^ That tlie public miglit possess tliis curious fragment as entire
as possible, the editor gave one of these copies, -which seems the
most perfect, to Mr Robert Jamieson, to be inserted in his collec-
tion. It also has been published, with many curious illustrations,
in Jlr John Finlay's Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads.
Glasgow, 1808.

* [Robert Hamilton, Esq. Sheriff of Lanarkshire, and one of
the Principal Clerks of Session, died in 1831.]

296

MINSTRELSY OF

song- has claim to high antiquity, as referring to a very
remote jjeriod in Scottish history.

Alexander III. of Scotland died in 1285; and, for
the misfortune of his country, as well as his own, he
had heen hereaved of all his children before his de-
cease. The crown of Scotland descended upon his
grand-daughter, Margaret, termed, by our historians,
the Maid of Norway. She was the only offspring- of
a marriage betwixt Eric, King of Norway, and Mar-
garet, daughter of Alexander III. The kingdom had
been secured to her ))y the Parliament of Scotland held
at Scone, the year preceding her grandfather's death.
The regency of Scotland entered into a congress with
the ministers of the King of Norway, and with those
of England, for the establishment of good order in the
kingdom of the infant Princess. Shortly afterwards,
Edward I. conceived the idea of matching his eldest
son, Edward, Prince of Wales, with the young Queen
of Scotland, The plan ^-as eagerly embraced by the
Scottish nobles ; for, at that time, there was little of
the national animosity, which afterwards blazed be-
twixt the countries, and they patriotically looked for-
ward to the important advantage of uniting the island
of Britain into one kingdom. But Eric of Norway
seems to have been unwilling to deliver up his daugh-
ter ; and, while the negotiations were thus protracted,
tlie death of the Maid of Norway effectually crusluHl
a scheme, the consequences of which might have been,
that the distinction l)etwixt Eniiland and Scotland

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 297

would, in our day, have been as obscure and uninte-
resting- as that of the reahns of the heptarchy. — Hailes'
Annals. Fordun, &c.

The unfortunate voyage of Sir Patrick Spens may
really have taken place, for the purpose of bringing
back the Maid of Norway to her own kingdom ; a pur-
pose which was probably defeated by the jealousy of
the Norwegians, and the reluctance of King Eric. I
find no traces of the disaster in Scottish history ; but,
when we consider the meagre materials whence Scot-
tish history is drawn, this is no conclusive argument
against the truth of the tradition. That a Scottish
vessel sent upon such an embassy, might, as represented
in the ballad, have been freighted with the noblest
youth in the kingdom, is sufficiently probable ; and,
having been delayed in Norway till the tempestuous sea-
son was come on, its fate can be no matter of surprise.
The commissioners recorded in history as having been
formally sent by the Scottish nation to receive their
Queen, were Sir David Wemyss of Wemyss, and Sir
Michael Scott of Balwearie ; the same, whose know-
ledge, surpassing that of his age, procured him the re-
putation of a wizard. But, perhaps, the expedition of
Sir Patrick Spens was previous to this solemn em-
bassy. The introduction of the King into the ballad
seems a deviation from history ; unless we suppose,
that Alexander was, before his death, desirous to see
his grandchild and heir.^

' [IMr Buchan, in his " Ancient Ballads," 1828, Inserts a
2

298 MINSTRELSY OF

The Scottish monarchs were much addicted to " sit
in Dunfermline town," previous to the accession of the
Bruce dynasty. It was a favourite abode of Alexander
himself, who was killed by a fall from his horse, in the
Aacinity, and was buried in the Abbey of DunfermUne.

There is a beautiful German translation of this bal-
lad, as it appeared in the Reliques, in the Volk's-Lieder
of Professor Herder — an elegant work, in which it is
only to be regretted that the actual popular songs of
the Germans form so trifling a proportion.

The tune of Mr Hamilton's copy of Sir Patrick
Spens is different from that to which the words are
commonly sung ; being less plaintive, and having a bold
nautical turn in the close.

copy of Sir Patrick Spens, ^vhicli lias tliree stanzas more tLan ttat
adopted by Sir Walter Scott ; and, among other variations, one in
stanza 7th, which gets rid of this difficulty. See post, p. 300.
Buchan said he had it from " a ■night of Homer's craft," a wan-
dering minstrel, who has been travelling in the North as a men-
dicant these 30 years Vol. I. p. 289.]

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 299

SIR PATRICK SPENS.

The King sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking- tlie blude-red wine ;

" O^ whare will I get a skeely skipper,^
To sail this new ship of mine ? " —

O up and spake an eldern knight,
Sat at the King's right knee, —

" Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor,
That ever sailed the sea." —

Our King has written a braid letter,
And seal'd it with his hand.

And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.

<' To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway o'er the faem ;

' In singing, the interjection O is added to tlie second and fourth
lines.
^ Skeely shipper — Skilful mariner.

300 , MINSTRELSY OF

The King's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis thou maun hr'mg her hame."

The first word that Sir Patrick read,

Sae loud loud laughed he ;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,

The tear hlinded his ee.

" O wha is this has done this deed,

And tauld the King o' me,
To send us out, at this time of the year,

To sail upon the sea ? ^

" Be it wind, be it weet, he it hail, he it sleet.

Our ship must sail the faem ;
The King-'s daughter of Noroway,

'Tis we must fetch her hame." — -

' By a Scottish Act of Parliament, it was enacted, that no ship
should be freighted out of the kingdom, with any staple goods, h-.--
twixt the feast of St Simon's day and Jude and Candlemas. — ■
James III. Parliament 2(1, chap. 15. Such was the terror eu-
tertaiue<l for navigating the North Seas in winter.

2 [In Mr Buchan's copy we have —

" But I maun sail the seas the morn,

And likewise sae maun you.
To Norroway wi' our King's daughter —

A chosen Queen she's now."

According to this edition, then, Sir l';itrick's errand was, not to
Iiriiig the Alaidcn of Norway to Scutlaml, hut to convey her mo-
ther, the daughter of Alexander 111., to N.irwny.]

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 301

They housed their sails on Monenday morn,

Wi' a' the speed they may ;
They hae landed in Noroway,

Upon a Wodensday.

They hadna been a week, a week.

In Noroway, but twae,
Wlien that the lords o' Noroway

Began aloud to say, — ^

" Ye Scottishmen spend a' our King's goud.

And a' our Queenis fee." —
" Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud !

Fu' loud I hear ye lie ;

" For I brought as much white monie,

As gane^ my men and me.
And I brought a half-fou^ of gude red goud.

Out o'er the sea wi' me.

" Make ready, make ready, my merrymen a' !

Our gude ship sails the morn." —
" Now, ever alake, my master dear,

I fear a deadly storm !

' [Tliey hadna stayed into tliat place
A month but and a day,
Till he caused the flip in mugs gae roun',

And wine in cans sae gay Buchan.]

Gawe— Suffice =* Half-fou — the eighth part of a peck.

302 MINSTRELSY OF

" I saw the new moon, late yestreen,

Wi' the auld moon in her arm ;
And, if we gang to sea, master,

I fear we'll come to harm." ^

They hadna sail'd a league, a league,

A league but barely three,
When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud,

And gurly grew the sea.

The ankers brak, and the topmasts lap,"

It was sic a deadly storm ;
And the waves cam o'er the broken ship,

Till a' her sides were torn.

" O where will I get a gude sailor,

To take my helm in hand.
Till I get up to the tall top-mast.

To see if I can spy land ? " —

" O here am I, a sailor gude,

To take the helm in hand.
Till you go up to the tall top-mast ;

But I fear you'll ne'er spy land." —

' [" The bard, bo sure, was woathcrwisp, who framoil
The Grand Ohi Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens."

Coleridge's Sibt/Uine Leaves.]
'Lap — Sprang.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 303

He hadna gane a step, a step,

A step but barely ane,
When a bout flew out of our goodly ship,^

And the salt sea it came in."

" Gae, fetch a web o' the silken claith,

Another o' the twine,
And wap them into our ship's side,

And let nae the sea come in." — ^

They fetch'd a web o' the silken claith,*

Another o' the twine,
And they wapp'd them round that gude ship's side,

But still the sea cam in.

^ I believe a modern seaman would say, a plank had started ;
wliicli must have been a frequent incident during the infancy of
ship-buUding. Mr Finlay, however, thinks it rather means that
a bolt gave way.

^ [ " He hadna gane to his tapmast,

A step but barely three,
Ere thro' and thro' the bonny ship's side,
He saw the green haw-sea." — Buchan.]
^ The remedy applied seems to be that mentioned in Cook's
Voyages, when, upon some occasion, to stop a leak, which could
not be got at in the inside, a quilted sail was brought under the
vessel, which, being drawn into the leak by the suction, prevented
the entry of more water. Chaucer says,

"There n'is na new guise that it na'as old."
^[The vulgarization of this passage in Buchan's copy, is amu-
smg:_

*' There are five-and-fifty feather beds

Well packet in ae room.
And ye'll get as miickle gnde canvasa
As wrap the ihip a' roun," &c.il

304 MINSTRELSY OF

O laith, laitb, were our gude Scots lords
To weet their cork-heel'd slioon !

But lang' or a' the play was Jjlay'd,
They wat their hats aboon.

And mony was the feather lied,

That flatter'd' on the faem ;
And mony was the g-ude lord's son,

That never mair cam hame.

The ladyes wrang- their fingers white,

The maidens tore their hair,
A' for the sake of their true loves ;

For them they'll see nae mair.

O lang, lang, mav the ladves sit,
Wi' their fans into their hand.

Before they see Sir Patrick Sjjens
Come sailing to the strand !

And lang, lang, may the maidens sit,
With their goud kaims in their hair,

A' waiting for their ain dear loves I
For them they'll see nae mair.

O forty miles off Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep,

' Fhittircii — lluttoriHl, or ratlur f.citcil, on tlio foam.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 305

And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.^

' This concluding verse differs in tte three copies of the ballads
Tvliich I have collated. The printed edition bears,

" Half ower, half ower, to Aberdour ;"
And one of the MSS. reads,

" At the back of auld St Johnstoune Dykes."

But, in a voyage from Norway, a shipwreck on the north coast

seems as probable as either in the Frith of Forth or Tay ; and the

ballad states the disaster to have taken place out of sight of land.

[Buchan's version has,

" It's even ower frae Aberdour."

Aberdour is a small seaport, about six miles from " Dunferm-
ling Town." — Ed.]

>06 MINSTRELSY OF

AULD MAITLAND.

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. [1802.]

This ballad, notwithstanding its present appearance,
has a claim to very high antiquity. It has been pre-
served by tradition ; and is, perhaps, the most authen-
tic instance of a long and very old poem, exclusively
thus preserved. It is only known to a few old people
upon the sequestered banks of the Ettrick ; and is pul)-
lished, as written down from the recitation of the mo-
ther of Mr James Hogg, ^ who sings, or rather chants
it, with great animation. She learned the ballad from
a blind man, who died at the advanced age of ninety,
and is said to have been possessed of much traditionary
knowledge. Although the language of this poem is
much modernized, yet many words, which the reciters
have retained without understanding them, still pre-
serve traces of its antiquitv. Such are the words
springals (corruj)tedly jtronounced springicalh), sou--

' This old woman is still alive, and at present resides at Craiij of
Dou,a;las, in Selkirkshire. 1805 — The mother of the *' Ettrick
ShiMiheid" is now deceased. 1820.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 307

ies, portcullize, and many other appropriate terms of
war and chivalry, which could never have been intro-
duced by a modern ballad-maker. The incidents are
striking and well manag-ed ; and they are in strict con-
formity with the manners of the ag-e in which they are
placed. The editor has, therefore, been induced to
illustrate them, at considerable length, by parallel pass-
ages from Froissart, and other historians of the period
to which the events refer.

The date of the ballad cannot be ascertained with
any degree of accuracy. Sir Richard Maitland, the hero
of the poem, seems to have been in possession of his
estate about 1250; so that, as he survived the com-
mencement of the wars betwixt England and Scotland,
in 1 296, his prowess against the English, in defence of
his castle of Lauder or Thirlestane, must have been
exerted during his extreme old age. He seems to have
been distinguished for devotion as well as valour ; for
A.D. 1249, Dominus Ricardus de Mautlant gave to
the Abbey of Dryburgh, " Terras suas de Haubent-
side, in territorio suo de Thirlestatie, pro salute anhnce
sues, et sponscE suce, antecessorum suorum et successo-
rum suorum, in perpetuum."^ He also gave to the

' There exists also an indenture, or bond, entered into by Pat-
rick, Abbot of Kelsau, and bis convent, referring to an engagement
betwixt them and Sir Richard INIaitland, and Sir William, his eld-
est son, concerning the lands of Hedderwicke and the pasturages
of Thirlestane and Blythe. This Patrick was Abbot of Kelso be-
twixt 1:258 aud 1260.

308 MINSTRELSY OP

same convent, " Omnes terras, qiias Walterics de Gil-
ing tenuit infeodo suo de Tliirlestane etpastura inconi'
muni de Thirlestane, ad quadragirda oves, sexaginta
vaccas, et ad viginti equos." — Cartulary of Dryburgh
Abbey, in the Advocates' Library.

From the following ballad, and from the family tra-
ditions referred to in the Maitland MSS., Auld Mait-
land appears to have had three sons ; but we learn,
from the latter authority, that only one survived him,
who was thence surnamed Burd alane, which signifies
either unequalled, or solitarg. A Consolation, ad-
dressed to Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, a poet
and scholar who flourished about the middle of the six-
teenth century, and who gives name to the Maitland
MSS., draws the following parallel betwixt his domes-
tic misfortunes and those of the fii'st Sir Richard, his
great ancestor : —

" Sic destanie and derfe devoring deid

Oft his own hous in hazard put of aidd ;

Bot your forbeiris, frovard fortounes steid

And bitter Wastes ay buir with breistis bauld ;

Luit wanweirdis work and w;dter as they wald,

Thair hardie hairtis, hawtio and heroik,

For fortounes foid or force wald never fauld,

But storniis witlistaiid with stoniak stout and stoik.

*' Renowned Ricliert of your race record,
Quhai prais and prowis Ciinnot be exprest ;
Mair lustie lynyagc nenr haid ane lord,
For he begat the bauldest bairuis and best,
ISIaist manful men, and madiuis most modest.
That ever wes .svn Pvranius s-on of Trov,

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 309

But piteouslie thai peirles perles a pest
Bereft him all bot Buird-allane, a boy.

" Himselfe was aiget, his hous hang be a har,
DuUl and distres almaist to deid him draife ;
Yet Burd-allane, his only son and air,
As wretched, vyiss, and valient, as the laive,
His hous uphail'd, quhilk ye with honor haive.
So nature that the lyk iuvyand name,
In kindlie cair dois kindly courage craif,'
To follow him in fortoune and in fame.

" Richerd he wes, Richerd ye are also,
And JMaitland als, and magnanime ar ye ;
In als great age, als wrappit are in wo,
Sewin sons^ ye haid might contrayaill his thrie,
Bot Burd-allane ye haive behind as he :
The lord his linage so inlarge in lyne,
And mony hundreith nepotis grie and grie^
Sen Richert wes as hundreth yeiris are hjTie.

An Consolator Ballad, to the Richt HonoraUU.

Sir Richert Maitland of Lethingtoune

Maitland MSS. in Library of Hdinburgh
University,

Sir William Mautlant, or Maitland, the eldest and

' i. e. Similar family distress demands the same family courage.

* Sewin sons — This must include sons-in-law ; for the last Sir
Richard, like his predecessor, had only three sons, namely, I. Wil-
liam, the famous secretary of Queen Mary ; II. Sir John, who
alone survived him, and is the Burd-allane of the Consolation ;
III. Thomas, a youth of great hopes, who died in Italy. But he
had four daughters married to gentlemen of fortune — Pinker.-
tok's List of Scottish Poets, p. 114.

^ Grie and grie — In regular descent ; from gre, French.

310 MINSTRELSY OF >

sole surviving- son of Sir Richard, ratified and confirmed,
to the monks of Drybnrgh, " Omnes terras quas Do-
minus Ricardus de Maatlant jiater suus fecit dictis
monachis in territorio suo de Thirlestane" Sir Wil-
liam is supposed to have died about 1315 — Craw-
ford's Peerage.

Such were the heroes of the ballad. The castle of
Thirlestane is situated upon the Leader, near the town
of Lauder. Whether the present building, which was
erected by Chancellor Maitland, and improved by the
Duke of Lauderdale, occupies the site of the ancient
castle, I do not know ; but it still merits the epithet
of a " darksome Jiouse. " I find no notice of the siege
in history ; but there is nothing improbable in suppo-
sing, that the castle, during the stormy period of the
Baliol wars, may have held out against the English.
The creation of a nephew of Edward I., for the plea-
sure of slaying him by the hand of young Maitland, is
a poetical license;^ and may induce us to place the
date of the composition about the reign of David IL,
, or of his successor, when the real exploits of Maitland,
and his sons, were in some degree obscured, as well as
magnified, by the lapse of time. The inveterate hatred
against the English, founded upon the usurpation of
Edward L, glows in every line of the ballad.

' Such liberties with the genealogy of monarchs were common to
romancers. Henry the Minstrel makes Wallace slay more th:m
one of King Edward's nephews ; and Joluiie Armstrong claims the
merit of slaying a sister's son of Heury VIII.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 311

Auld Maitland is placed, by Gawain Douglas, Bishop
of Dunkeld, among the popular heroes of romance, in
his allegorical Palice of Honour.

" I saw Raf Coilyear with his thrawin brow,
Crabit Jolm the Reif, and auld Cowkilbeis Sow ;
And how the wran cam out of Ailesay,
And Piers Plowman, that meid his workmen few :
Gret Gowmacmorne, and Fin Mac Cowl, and how
They suld be goddis in Ireland, as they say.
Thair saw I Maitland upon auld beird gray,
Robin Hude, and Gilbert with the quliite hand,
How Hay of Nauchton flew in Madin land."'

In this curious verse, the most noted romances, or po-
pular histories of the poet's day, seem to be noticed.

' It is impossible to pass over this curious list of Scottish romances
without a note ; to do any justice to the subject would require an

essay Haf Coilyear is said to have been printed by Lekprevick,

in 1572 ; and of late recovered, has been reprinted by Mr David
Laing of Edinburgh. Though it is now known only in its Scotch

dress, this piece appears to have been originally French

John the Reif, as well as the former personage, is mentioned by
Dunbar, in one of his poems, where he styles mean persons,

" Kyne of Rauf Colyard, and Joline the Reif."
They seem to have been both robbers ; Lord Hailes conjectured John
the Reif to be the same with Johnnie Armstrong ; but, surely, not
with his usual accuracy ; for the Palice of Honour was printed
twenty-eight years before Johtmie's execution. John the Reif is
mentioned by Lindesay, in his tragedy of Cardinal Beaton :
— " disagysit, like John the Raif, he gied."

Cowkilbeis Sow is a strange legend in the Bannatyue MSS. —
See Complaynt of Scotland, p. 131 How the wren came out

312 MINSTRELSY OF

The preceding stanza describes the sports of the field :
and that which follows refers to the tricks oij'ugailrie;
so that the three verses comprehend the whole pastimes
of the middle ages, which are aptly represented as tj''
furniture of Dame Venus's chamber. The verse, re-
ferring to Maitland, is obviously corrupted ; the true
reading was probably, " with his auld beird gray." In-
deed, the whole verse is full of errors and corruptions ;
which is the greater pity, as it conveys information to
be found nowhere else.

The descendant of Auld Maitland, Sir Richard of

of Ailsay — The wren, I know not wliy, is often celebrated in
Scottish song. The testament of the wren is still sung by the
children, beginning,

" The wren she lies in care's nest,
Wi' meikle dole and pyne."

This may be a modification of the ballad in the text Piers

Plowman is well known. TJn<]er the uncouth names of Gow Mac
Morn, and of Fyn Mac Cowl, the admirers of Ossian are to recognise
Gaul, the son of Morni, and Fingal liimself ; heu, quantum mu~
tatus ah iUo / .... To illustrate the familiar character of Hobiii
Hood, would be an insult to my readers. But they may bo less
acquainted with Gilbert icith the White Hand, one of his brave
followers. lie is menti(med in the oldest legend of that outlaw ;
Ritsou's Robin Hood, p. 32 :

" Thryes Robin shot about.

And ahvay he slist the wand.
And so dyde ifiiod C!i//brile

mth the niiitc Hand."

Hay of Nackton I take to be the knight, mentioned by W'yn-
tuwn, whose feats of war and travel may have become the subject

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 313

Lethington, seems to have been frequently compli-
mented on the popular renown of his great ancestor,
We have already seen one instance ; and in an elegant
oy of verses in the Maitland MSS., in praise of Sir
Richard's seat of Lethington, which he had built, or
greatly improved, this obvious topic of flattery does
not escape the poet. From the terms of liis panegyric
we learn, that the exploits of auld Sir Richard with
the gray beard, and of his three sons, were " sung in
many a far countrie, albeit in rural rhyme ;" from which
we may infer, that they were narrated rather in the
shape of a popular ballad, than in a romance of price.
If this be the case, the song now published may have
undergone little variation since the date of the Mait-
land MSS. ; for, divesting the poem, in praise of Leth-
ington, of its antique spelling, it would run as smooth-
ly, and appear as modern, as any verse in the following

of a romance or ballad. He fouglit in Flanders, under Alexander,
Earl of Mar, in 1408, and is thus described : —

" Lord of the Nachtane, Schire William,
Ane Iianest knycht, and of gud fame,
A travalit knycht lang- before than."

And again, before an engagement,

" The Lord of Nachtane, Schire William,
The Hay, a knycht thau'of gud fame.
Mad Schire Gilbert, tlie Hay, knycht."

Cronykil, B. IX. c. 27.

I apprehend we should read, " How Hay of Nachton slew in
Madin Laud." Perhaps Madin is a corruption for Maylin Land,
or IMilan.

314 MINSTRELSY OF

ballad. The lines alluded to are addressed to the casthj
of Lething-ton : —

" And happie art thou sic a place,

Tliat few thy maik ' are sene ! i

But yit mair happie far that race '

To quhome thou dois pertene. i

Quha dois not knaw the IVIaitland bluid,

The best in aU this land ? {

In quhilk sumtyme the honour stuid

And worship of Scotland.

" Of auld Sir Richard, of that name,
We have hard sing and say ;
Of his triumphant nobill fame.
And of his auld baird gray.
And of his nobill sonnis three,
Quhilk that tyme had no maik ;
Quhilk maid Scotland renounit be.
And all England to quaik.

" Quhais luifing praysis, made trewlie,

Efter that simple tyme,

Ar sung in monie far countrie.

Albeit in rural rhyme.

And, gif I dar the treuth dodair,

And nane me fleitschour* call,

I can to him find na compair,

And till his barnis all."

It is a curious circumstance, that this interesting tale,
so often referred to by ancient authors, should be now
recovered in so perfect a state ; and many readers may
Ite pleased to see the following sensible observations,
made by a person born in Ettrick Forest, in the humble
situation of a shepherd : — " I am surprised to hear that

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 315

this song' is suspected by some to be a modern forgery ;
the contrary will be best proved, by most of the old
people, hereabouts, having- a great part of it by heart.
Many, indeed, are not aware of the manners of this
country : till this present age, the poor ilUterate people,
in these glens, knew of no other entertainment, in the
long winter nights, than repeating, and listening to, the
feats of their ancestors, recorded in songs, which I be-
lieve to be handed down, from father to son, for many
generations, jalthough, no doubt, had a copy been taken,
at the end of every fifty years, there must have been
some difference, occasioned by the gradual change of
language. I beheve it is thus that many very ancient
songs have been gradually modernized, to the common
ear ; while, to the connoisseur, they present marks of
their genuine antiquity." — Letter to the Editor, from
Mr James Hogg. [June 30, 1801.] To the observa-
tions of my ingenious correspondent I have nothing to
add, but that, in this, and a thousand other instances,
they accurately coincide with my personal knowledge.

516 MINSTRELSY OF

AULD MAITLAND.

There lived a king- in southern land,

King- Edward hight his name ;
Unwordily he wore the crown,

Till fifty years were g-ane.

He had a sister's son o's ain,

Was large of blood and bane ;
And afterward, when he came up,

Young Edward hight his name.^

One day he came before the king,

And kneel'd low on his knee —
" A boon, a boon, my good uncle,

I crave to ask of thee !

" At our lang wars, in fair Scotland,
I fain hae wish'd to be ;

' Were it possible to find an authority for calling this personage
Edmund, we should be a step nearer liistor)' ; for a brother, though
not a nephew of Edward I., so named, died in Gascony, during aii
unsuccessful campaign against the French. — Knighton, Lib. III.
cap. 8.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 317

If fifteen hundred waled ^ wight men
You'U grant to ride wi' me." —

" Thon sail hae tbae, thou sail hae mae ;

I say it sickerhe ;
And I mysell, an atdd gray man,

Array'd your host saU see." —

King Edward rade, King Edward ran—

I wish him dool and pyne!^
Till he had fifteen hundred men

Assembled on the Tyne.

And thrice as many at Berwicke^

Were all for battle bound,
[ Who, marching Jo rth ivith false Dunbar,

A ready welcome foundy\

They lighted on the baidis of Tweed,
And blew their coals sae bet,

' Waled- — Chosen.

^ Thus Spenser, in Mother HuhercCs tale — <

Thus is the ape become a shepherd swain.
And the false fox his dog-, God give them pain!
^ North-Berwick, according to some reciters.
* These two lines have been inserted by Mr Hogg, to complete
the verse. Dunbar, the fortress of Patrick, Earl of March, was too
often opened to the Enghsh, by the treachery of that Baron, during
the reign of Edward I.

318 . MINSTRELSY OF

And fired the Merse and Teviotdale,
All in an evening late.

As they fared up o'er Lammermore,

They burn'd baith up and down,
Until they came to a darksome house,

Some call it Leader- Town.

" Wha hauds this house ? " young- Edward cry'd,

" Or wha gies't ower to me ? " —
A gray-hair'd knight set up his head,

And crackit richt crousely :

" Of Scotland's king- I hand my house ;

He pays me meat and fee ;
And I will keep my g-uid auld house,

While my house will keep me." —

They laid their sowies to the wall,^

Wi' mony a heavy peal ;
But he threw ower to them ag-en

Baith pitch and tar barrel.

With spring-aids, stanes, and gads of airn,

Amang- them fast he threw ;
Till mony of the Englishmen

About the wall he slew.

' See Note A, at tlie eml of the Ballad.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 319

Full fifteen days that braid host lay,

Sieging- Auld Maitland keen ;
Syne they hae left him, hail and feir.

Within his strength of stane.

Then fifteen harks, all gaily good,

Met them upon a day.
Which they did lade with as much spoil

As they could bear away.

" England's our ain by heritage ;

And what can us withstand.
Now we hae conquer'd fair Scotland,

With buckler, bow, and brand ? " —

Then they are on to the land o' France,

Where auld King Edward lay.
Burning baith castle, tower, and town.

That he met in his way.

Until he came unto that town.

Which some call Billop-Grace ;^
There were Auld Maitland's sons, a' three,

Learnins: at school, alas !

' If this be a Flemish or Scottish corruption for Ville de Grace,
in Normandy, that town was never besieged by Edward I., whose
wars in France were confined to the province of Gascony. The
rapid change of scene, from Scotland to France, excites a suspicion,
that some verses may have been lost in this place. The retreat of

320 MINSTRELSY OF

The eldest to the youngest said,

" O see ye what I see ?
Gin a' be trew yon standard says,^

We're fatherless a' three.

" For Scotland's conquer'd up and down

Landmen we'll never be :
Now, wiU you go, my brethren two,

And try some jeopardy ?" — "

Then they hae saddled twa black horse,
Twa black horse and a gray ;

And they are on to King Edward's host,
Before the dawn of day.

the English host, however, may remind us of a passage in Wyn-
town, when, after mentioning that the Earl of Salisbury raised the
siege of Dunbar, to join King Edward in France, he observes.

It was to Scotland a gud chance.

That thai made thaim to werray in France,

For had thai lialyly thaim tane

For to werray in Scotland alane,

Efter the gret mischeffis twa,

Duplyn and Hallydowne war tha.

Thai suld have skaithit it too gretly.

Bot fourtowne, thoucht seho fald fekilly.

Will noucht at anis myscheflfis fall ;

Tharefore scho set than? hartis all.

To werray Fraunce richit to be,

That Scottis live in grettar Ic,

Cronylcil, I?. VIII. cap. M.

' Edward had quartered the arms of Scotland with his own.
* See Note B, at the end of this Ballad.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 321

Wlien they arrived before the host,

They hover'd on the lay —
" Wilt thou lend me our king's standard,

To bear a little way ? " — ^

" Where wast thou bred ? where wast thou born ?

Where, or in what countrie ? " —
" In north of England I was born :"

(It needed him to lie.)"

" A knight me gat, a lady bore,

I am a squire of high renowne ;
I well may bear't to any king.

That ever yet wore crowne." —

" He ne'er came of an Englishman,

Had sic an ee or bree ;^
But thou art the likest Auld Maitland,

That ever I did see.

" But sic a gloom on ae browhead,

Grant I ne'er see again !
For mony of our men he slew,

And mony put to pain." —

When Maitland heard his father's name,
An angry man was he !

See Note C, at p. 338, post.—' See Note D., at p. 339, post.
— .^ Eve or brow.

322 MINSTRELSY OF

Then, lifting- np a g-ilt dagg-er,
Hung- low down by his knee,

He stabb'd the knig-ht the standard bore,

He stabb'd him cruellie ;
Then caught the standard by the neuk,

And fast away rode he.

" Now, is't na time, brothers," he cried,

" Now, is't na time to Hee ?" —
" Ay, by my sooth !" they baith replied,

" We'll bear you company." —

The youngest turn'd him in a path.

And drew a burnish'd brand,^
And fifteen of the foremost slew,

Till back the lave" did stand.

He spurr'd the gray into the path.

Till baith his sides they bled —
" Gray ! thou maun carry me away,

Or my life lies in wad !" — ^

^ Thus, Sir "Walter IVIauny, retreating into the fortress of Ha-
nybouto, after a successful sally, was pursued by the be-^ii-gers,
who " ranne after them lyke madde men ; than Sir Gualticr saide.
Let me never be beloved wyth my lady, wythout I have a course
wyth one of these followers ! " and turning, with his lance in the
rest, he overthrew several of his pursuers, before he couJesceuded
to continue his retreat — Froissakt.

» The rest ' In pledge.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 323

The captain lookit ower the wa',

About the break o' day ;
There he beheld the three Scots lads,

Pursued along the way.

My nephews are at hand ;
And they sail lodge wi' me to-night,
In spite of all England."—

Whene'er they came within the yate,
They thrust their horse them frae/

And took three lang spears in their hands,
Saying, " Here sail come nae mae!"

And they shot out, and they shot in,

Till it was fairly day ;
When mony of the Englishmen

About the draw-brigg lay.

Then they hae yoked carts and wains,

To ca' their dead away.
And shot auld dykes abune the lave,

In gutters where they lay.

^ " The Lord of Hangest (pursued by the English) came so to
the barryrs (of Vandonne) that were open, as his happe was, and
so entred in therat, and than toke his speare, and turned him to
defence, right valiantly." — Froissart, vol. i. chap. 367.

324 MINSTRELSY OF

The king^, at his pavihon door,

Was heard aloud to say,
" Last night, three o' the lads o' France

My standard stole awa}-.

" Wi' a faiise tale, disguised, they came,

And wi' a fauser trayne ;
And to regain my gaye standard,

These men were a' down slayne." —

*' It ill befits," the youngest said,

" A crowned king to lie ;
But, or that I taste meat and drink,

Reproved sail he be." —

He went before King Edward straight,
And kneel'd low on his knee ;

" I wad hae leave, my lord," he said,
" To speak a word wi' thee." —

The king he turn'd him round about,

And wistna what to say —
Quo' he, " Man, thou's hae leave to speak,

Though thou should speak a' day." —

" Ye said, that three young lads o' France

Your standard stole awa^",
Wi' a fause tale, and fauser trayne,

And mony men did slay ; —

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 325

<' But we are nane the lads o' France,

Nor e'er pretend to be ;
We are three lads o' fair Scotland,

Auld Maitland's sons are we ;

" Nor is there men, in a' your host,

Daur fight us three to three." —
<' Now, by my sooth," young- Edward said,

" Weel fitted ye sail be !

" Piercy sail with the eldest fight,

And Ethert Lunn wi' thee :
William of Lancaster the third,

And bring your fourth to me ! "

[" Remember, Piercy, aft the Scot
Has cower cl beneath thy hand : ']

For every drap of Maitland l^lood,
I'll gie a rig of land." —

He clanked Piercy ower the head,

A deep wound and a sair.
Till the best blood o' his bodie

Came rinning down his hair.

" Now, I've slayne ane ; slay ye the twa ;
And that's gude companye ;

Modern, [by James Hogg,] to supply au imperfect stanza.

326 MINSTRELSY OF

And if the twa suld slay ye baith,
Ye'se get na he\]) frae me." ^

But Ethert Lunn, a baited bear,

Had many battles seen ;
He set tlae young-est wonder sair,

Till the eldest he grew keen —

*' I am nae king, nor nae sic thing : -

My word it shanna stand !
For Ethert sail a buflfet bide.

Come he beneath my brand."

' According to tlie laws of clilvalry, laws wliicli were also for a
long time observed in duels, when two or more persons were en-
gaged on eacli side, lie, who first conquered his immediate antago-
nist, was at Uberty, if he pleased, to come to the assistance of his
companions. The play of the Little French Laicyer turns en-
tirely upon this circumstance ; and it may be remarked throughout
the poems of Boiardo and Ariosto, particularly in the combat of
three Christian and three Pagan champions, in the 42d canto of
Orlando Furioso. But doubtless a gallant knight was often un-
■n'illing, like young INIaitland, to avail liimself of this advantage.
Something of this kind seems to have happened in the celebrated
combat, fought in the presence of James II. at Stirling, in 1449,
between three French, or Flemish warriors, and three noble Scot-
tishmen, two of whom were of the house of Douglas. The reader
"will find a literal translation of Oliver de la JMarche's account of
this celebrated tourney, in Pinkehton's History, vol. i. p. 428.

* INIaitland's apology for retracting his promise to stand neuter,
is as curious as his doing so is natural. The lujfortunate John of
Prance was wont to say, that if truth and faith were banished from
all th(! rest of the universe, they should still reside in the breast
and the mouth of kings.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 327

He clankit Ethert ower the head,

A deep wound and a sair,
Till the best blood of his bodie

Came rinning- ower his hair.

" Now I've slayne twa ; slaye ye the ane ;

Isna that gude company e ?
And tho' the ane suld slaye ye baith,

Ye'se get nae help o' me."

The twa-some they hae slayne the ane ;

They maul'd him cruellie ; ^
Then hung- them over the draw-brigg-,

That all the host might see.

They rade their horse, they ran their horse,

Then hover'd on the lee : "
" We be three lads o' fair Scotland,

That fain would fighting- see."

This boasting when young Edward heard,

An angry man was he !
" I'll tak yon lad, I'll bind yon lad,

And bring him bound to thee ! " —

' Tliis has a vulgar sound, but is actually a ptrase of romance.
Tunt frappant et maiUent lex deux vassaux Tun sur Vautre, que
leurs heaumes, et leurs hauherts, sont tons cassez et rompuz. — La
fleur des Battailes.

2 See Note E., at page 341, post.

328 MINSTRELSY OF

" Now God forbid," King- Edward said,

" That ever thou suld try !
Three worthy leaders we hae lost,

And thou the fourth wad lie.

" If thou shouldst hang- on you draw-brigg-,

Blythe wad I never be ! "
But, wi' the poll-axe in his hand.

Upon the brigg- sprang he.^

The first stroke that young- Edward gae,

He struck wi' might and mayn ;
He clove the Maitland's helmet stout,

And bit right nigh the bra}-n.

When Maitland saw his ain blood fa',

An angrv man was he !"
He let his weapon frae him fa',

And at his throat did flee.

And thrice al^out he did him swing-,
Till on the gruiid he light,

J Sep page 343, post — Note F.

* There is a saying, that a Scottishman fights best after seeing
his own blood. Camerarius has contrivL'<I to hitch tliis toohsh pro-
verb into a national compliment ; for he quotes it as an instance of
the persevering gallantry of his countrymen. " Si in ptigna pro-
prium effundi sangiiinem vidisscnt, iion statim jn-ostrato aiiinio
concedebant, sed irato potius in hostes velut furcntes omnibus vi-
ribus incurrcbant."

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 329

Where he has halden young Edward,
The' he was great in might.

" Now let him up," King Edward cried,

" And let him come to me !
And for the deed that thou hast done,

Thou shalt hae erldomes three ! " —

" It's ne'er he said in France, nor e'er

In Scotland, when I'm hame,
That Edward once lay under me,^

And e'er gat up again 1 "

' Some reciters repeat it thus : —

" That Englishman lay under me,"
wliicli is in the true spirit of Blind Harry, who makes Wallace say,

" I better like to see the Southeron die,
Than gold or land, that they can gie to me."

In slaying Edward, Maitland acts pitilessly, but not contrary to
the laws of arms, which did not enjoin a knight to show mercy to
his antagonist, until he yielded him, " rescue or 710 rescue." Thus,
the Seigneur de Languerant came before the walls of an English
garrison, in Gascony, and defied any of the defenders to run a
course with a spear ; his challenge being accepted by Bertrand
Courant, the governor of the place, they couched their spears, hke
good knights, and dashed on their horses. Their spears were
broke to pieces, and Languerant was overthrown, and lost his hel-
met among the horses' feet. His attendants were coming up ; but
Bertrand drew his dagger, and said, " Sir, yield ye my prisoner,
rescue or no rescue ; els ye are but dead." The dismounted
champion spoke not a word ; on which Bertrand, in fervent ire,
dashed his dagger into his skull. Besides, the battle was not al-
ways finished by one warrior obtaining tliis advantage over the

330 MINSTRELSY OF

He pierced him through and through the heart,

He maul'd him crueUie ;
Then hung him ower the draw-brigg,

Beside the other three.

" Now take frae me that feather-bed,

Make me a bed o' strae !
I wish I hadna hved this day,

To mak my heart sae wae.

" If I were ance at London Tower,

Where I was wont to be,
I never raair suld gang frae hame,

Till borne on a bier-tree."

otter. — In the battle of Nejara, the famous Sir John Chandos was
overthrown, and held down, by a gigantic Spanish cavalier, named
Martino Fernandez. " Then Sir John Chandos," says Froissart,
' ' remembred of a knife that he had in his bosome, and drew it out,
and struck this Martyne so in the baeke, and in the sydes, that he
wounded him to dethe, as he laye upon hym." The dagger, which
the knights employed in these close and desperate struggles, was
called the poniard of mercy.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 331

APPENDIX.

Note A.

They laid their sowies to the wall,

Wi' mony a heavy peal P. 318, v. 5.

In this and tte following verse, the attack and defence of a fort-
ress, during the tliirteenth and fourteenth centuries, are described
accurately and concisely. The sow was a military engine, resem-
bhng the Roman testudo. It was framed of wood, covered with
hides, and mounted on wheels, so that, being rolled forward to the
foot of the besieged wall, it served as a shed, or cover, to defend
the miners, or those who wrought the battering-ram, from the
stones and arrows of the garrison. In the course of the famous
defence, made by Black Agnes, Countess of Slarch, of her hus-
band's Castle of Dunbar, IMontague, Earl of Salisbury, who com-
manded the besiegers, caused one of these engines to be wheeled
up to the wall. The Countess, who, with her damsels, kept her
station on the battlements, and affected to wipe off with her hand-
kerchief the dust raised by the stones hurled from the Enghsh ma-
chines, awaited the approach of this new engine of assault, " Be-
ware, jMontague," she exclaimed, while the fragment of a rock was
discharged from the wall — " Beware, Montague! for farrow shall
thy sow ! " ' Their cover being dashed to pieces, the assailants, with

1 This sort of bravado seems to have been fashionable in those times :
«' Etavec drapeaux, et leurs chaperons, ils torchoient les murs a I'en-
droit, ou les pierres venoient frapper. "—No«ce des Manuscrits de la Bi.
bliotlieque Nationale.

332 MINSTRELSY OF

great loss and difficulty, scrambled back to their trenctcs. " Bj-
the regard of suclie a lady," would Froissart have said, " and by
her comforting, a man ought to be worth two men, at need." The

sow was called by the French, Truie See Haii.es' Annals, vol.

ii. p. 89 ; Wyntown's CronykU, book viii. ; William of I\Ial-
MESBURY, lib. iv.

The memory of the sow is preserved in Scotland by two trifling
circumstances. The name given to an oblong hay-stack, is a hay-
sow ; and this may give us a good idea of the form of the machine-
Children also play at a game with cherry-stones, placing a small
heap on the ground, which they term a sowie, endeavouring to hit
it, '"■ throwing single cherry-stones, as the s;ow was formerly bat-
tered from the walls of the besieged fortress. !My companions at
the High School of Edinburgh, will remember what wa.s meant by
herrying a sowie. It is strange to find traces of military anticpiities
in the occupation of the husbandman and the sports of cliildren.

The pitch and tar-barrels of IMaitland were intended to consume
the formidable machines of the English. Thus, at a fabulous siege
of York, by Sir William Widlace, the same mode of defence is
adopted :

" The Eiig-lishmen.th.it cruel wlto and koue,
Kceped their town, and fended there full fast ;
Faggots of fire among the host they cast,
Up pilch and tar on foil sowis they lent ;
Many were hurt ere they from the walls went ;
Stones on Springalds thetj did cast out so fast,
And goads of iron made many grone agasl."

Henry t/ie Minstrel's History of If'u!lace—H. 8, c. :>.

A more authentic illustration may be derived from Barbour's
Account of the Siege of Berwick, by Edward II., in l.'3I9, when
a sow was brought on to the attack by the English, and burned by
the combustibles hurled down upon it, through tlie device of .lohu
Crabb, a Flemish engineer, in the Scottish service.

" And thai, that at the sege lay,
Or it was passyt the fyft day.
Had made thaim syndrj apparall,
To gang eft soiiys till assaill.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 333

Off gret gests a soic thai maid.

That stalwart heildyne aboyne it haid ;

With arrayt men inew tharin.
And instruments for to myne.

Siiidry scaffalds thai maid withall,
That war wele heyar than the wall.
And ordanyt als that, be the so.
The town suld weill asaillyt be.

" Thai within, that saw thaim swa,

Swa gret apparaill schap to ma.

Throw Craby's cuiisaill, that was sley,

A crane thai haitfgert dress up hey,

Eynnand on quheills, that thai micht bryng-

It quhar that nede war off helping.

And pyk, and ter, als liaiff thai tane ;

And lynt, and herds, and brymstaue;

And dry treyis that wele wald brin,

Andmellyt aythir other in :

And g-ret fagalds thairoff thai maid,

Gyrdit with irne bands braid.

The fagalds weill mycht mesuryt be,

Till a gret towrys quantite.

The fagalds bryning in a ball.

With thair crau thoucht till awail ;

And giff the sow come to the wall.

To lat it brynand on her fall ;

And with stark chenyels hald it thar,

Quhill all war brynt up that thar war

Upon sic maner gan thai fycht,
Quhill it wes ner non off the day.
That thai without, on gret aray,
Pryssyt thair sow to wart the wall ;
And thai within sone gert call
The engynour, that takyn was,
And great raenaiice till him mais.
And swour that he suld dey, bot he
Prowyt on the sow sic sutelte
That he to fruschyt ilk dele.
And he, that hath persawyt wele
That the dede wes wele ner hym till,
Bot giff he mycht fulfil thair will.

334 MINSTRELSY OF

Thouclit tliat he at hys mycht wald do.
Bendyt in gret hy then wes scho.
That till the sow wes ewyn set
In hy he gert draw the cleket ;
And smertly swappyt owt a stane,
Ewyn our the sow the stane is gaue, '

And behind it a litlU way
It fell : and then they cryt, ' Hey !'
That war in hyr, ' furth to the wall,
' For dredles it is ours all ! '

" The gynour then deleuerly

Gert bend the gyn in full gret hy ;

And the stane smertly swappyt out.
It flaw out quethyr, and with a rout,
And fell rycht ewyn befor the sow.

Thair harts than begouth to grow.
Bot yhet than, with thair mychts all
Thai pressyt the sow towartthe wall;

And has hyr set tharto gentilly.

The gynour than gert bend in hy

The gyne, and wappyt owt the stane.

That ewyn towart the lyft is gane.

And with gret wycht syne duschyt doun,

Rycht be the wall in a randoun;

And hyt the sow in sic maner.

That it that wes the maist sowar.

And starkast for to stynt a stark.

In sundre with that dusche it brak.

The men than owt in full gret hy

And on the wallis thai gau cry.

That thair sow wes feryt thar.

Jlion Crab, that had hys geer all yar.

In hys fagalds has set the fyr.

And our the wall syne gan thai wyr.

And brynt the sow till bruuds bar."

The Bruce, book xvii.

The springalds, used in defence of tlie castle of Lauder, uore
lalistcE, or large crossbows wrought by machinery, and capa))lo of
throwing stones, beams, and huge darts. They were numbered
among the heavy artillery of the age ; " Than the kvnge made all
his navy to draw along, by the cost of the Downes, every ship well

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 335

garnislied witt bombardes, cros-bowes, archers, springalls, and
other artillare." — Froissart.

Goads, or sharpened bars of iron, were an obvious and formida-
ble missile weapon. Thus, at the assault of Rochemiglion, " They
■within cast out great barres of iron, and pots with lyme, where-
with they hurt divers Englishmen, such as adventured themselves
too far." — Froissabt, vol. i. cap. 108.

From what has been noticed, the attack and defence of Lauder
castle will be found strictly conformable to the manners of the age ;
a circumstance of great importance, in judging of the antiquity of
the ballad. There is no mention of guns, though these became so
common in the latter part of the reign of Edward III., that at the
siege of St Maloes, " the English had well a four hondred gonnes,
who shot day and night into the fortrysse, and agaynst it." —
Froissart, vol. i. cap. 336. Barbour informs us, that guns, or
" crakis of wer," as he calls them, and crests for helmets, were
first seen by the Scottish, in their skirmishes with Edward the
Third's host in Northumberland, A.D. 1327.

Note B.

Now, will you go, my brethren two.
And try some jeopardy ? — P. 320, v. 2.

The romantic custom of achieving, or attempting, some desperate
and perilous adventure, without either necessity or cause, was a
peculiar, and perhaps the most prominent, feature of chivalry. It
was not merely the duty, but the pride and delight, of a true knight,
to perform such exploits, as no one but a madman woidd have un-
dertaken. I think it is in the old French romance of Erec and
£neide, that an adventure, the access to which lay through an
avenue of stakes, garnished with the bloody heads of the knights
who had attempted and failed to achieve it, is called by the in\'iting
title of Xa joie de la Cour. To be first in advancing, or last in
retreating ; to strike upon the gate of a certain fortress of the ene-
my ; to fight bUndfold, or with one arm tied up ; to carry off a

336 MINSTRELSY OF

bauoer, or to defend one, were often the subjects of a particular
vow among the sons of chivalrj'. Until some distinguishing ex-
])loit of this nature, a young knight was not said to have won his
spurs ; and, upon some occasions, he was obliged to bear, as a
mark of thraldom, a chain upon his arm, vhich was removed with
great ceremony, when his merit became conspicuous. These
chains are noticed in the romance of Jehan de Santre. In the
language of German chivalry, they were called Ketten des Gelul-
des (fetters of duty.) Lord Herbert of Cherbury informs us, that
the Knights of the Bath were obliged to wear certain strings, of
silk and gold, upon their left arm, until they had achieved some
noble deed of arms. When Edward III. commenced his French
wars, many of the young bachelors of England bound up one of
their eyes with a silk ribbon, and swore, before the peacock and the
ladies, that they would not see with both eyes until they had ac-
complished certain deeds of arms in France Froissart, cap. 28.

A remarkable instance of this chivalrous frenzy occurred during
the expedition of Sir Robert Knowles, who, in 1370, marched
through France, and laid waste the country, up to the very gates
of Paris. " There was a knight, in their companye, had made a
vowe, the day before, that he wolde ryde to the walles or gates of
Parys, and stryke at the barryers with his speare. And, for the
fournyshing of his vowe, he departed fro his companye, his speare
in his fyst, his shelde about his neck, armed at all pecesse, on a
good horsse, his squyer on another, behind him, with his bassenet.
And whan he approached near to Parys, he toke and dyde on his
helme, and left his squ} re behind hym, and dashed his spurres to
his horsse, and came gallopynge to the barryers, the whiche as
then were opyn ; and the lordes, that were there, had wened he
wolde have eutred into the towne ; but that was not his niynde ; for
when he hadde stryken at the barryers, as he had before avowiil,
ho towrned his reyne, and drue back agayne, and departed. Then
the knightes of France, that sawe hym depart, sayd to him, ' (io
your wiiye ; you have ryghte well accpiitted yourself.' 1 can nat
tell you what was thys knyghtes name, nor of what contre ; V>ut
the blazure of his amies was, goules, two fesses sable, a border
bable. Ilowbcit, iu the subbarbes, he had a sore encontre ; for.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 337

as lie passed on the pavement, lie founde before liym a boclier, a
bigge man, who had well sene this knighte pass by. And he helde
in his handes a sharps heavy axe, with a long poynt ; and as the
knight returned agayne, and toke no hede, this bocher came on his
side, and gave the knyght such a stroke, betwene the neck and the
shulders, that he reversed forwarde heedlynge, to the neck of his
horsse, and yet he recovered agayne. And than the bocher strake
hym agayne, so that the axe entered into his body, so that, for
payne, the knyghte fell to the earthe, and his horsse ran away, and
came to the squyer, who abode for his majster at the stretes ende.
And so, the squyer toke the horsse, and had gret marveyle what
■was become of his mayster ; for he had well sene him ryde to the
barryers, and stryke thereat with liis glayve, and retourne agayne.
Thanne he rode a lytell forthe, tliyderwarde, and anone he saw
where his master layn upon the erthe, bytwene foure men, layenge
on him strokes, as they wolde have stryken on a stethey (anvil) ;
and than the squyer was so affreyed, that he durst go no farther :
for he sawe well he could nat help his mayster. Therefore he re-
tourned as fast as he myght : so there the sayd knyghte was slayne.
And the knyghtes, that were at the gate, caused hym to be buried
ia holy ground.". — Froissart, ch. 281.

A similar instance of a military jeopardy occurs in the same
author, ch. 364. It happened before the gates of Troyes. " There
was an Englyshe squyre, borne in the bishopryke of Lincolne, an
expert man of arms ; I can nat say whyder he could se or nat ;
but he spurred his horse, his speare in his hande, and his targe
about his necke ; his horse came rushyng downe the waye, and lept
clene over the barres of the baryers, and so galoped to the gate,
where as the Duke of Burgoyne and the other lordes of France
were, who reputed that dede for a great enterprise. The squyre
thoughte to have returned, but he could nat ; for his horse was
stryken with speares, and beaten downe, and the squyr slain ;
wherewith the Duke of Burgoyue was right sore displeased.

338 MINSTRELSY OF

Note C.

Wilt thou lend me our King's standard,
To bear a little wat/? — P. 321, v. 1.

In all ages, and in almost all countries, the military standards
have been objects of respect to the soldiery, whose duty it is to
range beneath them, and, if necessary, to die in their defence. In
the ages of chivalry, these ensigns were distinguished by their shape,
and by the various names of banners, pennons, penoncelles, &c.,
according to the number of men who were to light under them.
They were displayed in the day of battle, with singular solemnit}-,
and consigned to the charge only of such as were thought willing
and able to defend them to the uttermost. ^Mien the army of Ed-
ward the Black Prince was drawn up against that of Henry the
Bastard, King of Castile, " Than Sir Johan Chandos brought his
baner, rolled up togyder, to the Prince, and said, ' Sir, behold,
here is my baner. I requyre you display it abrode, and give mi;
leave this daye to raise it ; for, sir, I thanke God and you, I ha\o
land and heritage sufficiente to niaynteyne it withal.' Than the
Prince, and King Dampeter (Don Pedro), toke the baner betwene
their hands, and spred it abrode, the which was of sylver, a sharp
pyle gaules, and delyvered it to hym, and said, ' Sir Johan, behold
here youre baner ; God sende you joye and honour thereof ! ' Than
Sir Johan Chandos bare his baner to his owne conipanye, and saydc,
' Sirs, beholde here my baner, and youres ; kepe it as your owno.'
And they toke it, and were right joyful thereof, and sayd, that by
the pleasure of God, and Saint George, they would kepe and de-
fend it to the best of their powers. And so the baner abode in the
handes of a good Enghsh scpiyer, called William Alery, who l)aro
it that day, and acipiaytted liiinself right nobly." — Fkoissakt, vol.
i. ch. 2.37. The loss of a banner was not only great dishonour,
but an infinite disadvantage. At the battle of Cocherel, in Nor-
mandy, the flower of the combatants, on each side, were engaged
in the attack and dclVnce of tlu- banner of the captall of Buche,
the EugUsh loader. It was planted amid a bush of thorns, and

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 339

guarded by sixty men at arms, viho defended it gallantly. " There
were many rescues, and many a one turt and cast to the earth,
and many feates of armes done, and many gret strokes given, with
good axes of steel, that it was wonder to behold." The battle did
not cease until the captaU's standard was taken and torn to pieces.
"We learn, from the following passage in Sxowe's Chronicle,
that the standard of Edward I. was a golden dragon. " The King
entered Wales with an army, appointing the footmen to occupie the
enemies in fight, whiles his horsemen, in a wing, set on the rere
battell : himselfe, with a power, kept his place, where he pight his
golden dragon, unto whiche, as to a castle, the wounded and
wearied might repair."

Note D.

*' Where wast thou bred? where wast thov, horn 9

Where, or in what countrie ? " —
•' In north of England I was horn :"

{It needed him to lie.) — P. 321, v. 2.

Stratagems, such as that of Maitland, were frequently prac-
tised with success, in consequence of the complete armour worn by
the knights of the middle ages. In 1339, Edward III. entered
France, to improve the success of the battle of Poictiers. Two
French knights, Sir Galahaut of Rybamont, and Sir Roger of
Cologne, rode forth, with their followers, to survey the Enghsh
host, and, in short, to seek adventures. It chanced that they met
a foraging party of Germans, retained in King Edward's service,
under the command of Reynold of Boulant, a knight of that nation.
By the counsel of a squire of his retinue. Sir Galahaut joined com-
pany with the German knight, under the assumed character of Bar-
tholomew de Bonne, Reynold's countryman and fellow-soldier in
the English service. The French knights " were a 70 men of
armes, and Sir Renolde had not past a 30 ; and, whan Sir Renolde
saw theym, he displayed his baner befor hym, and came softely
rydynge towarde theym, wenyng to him that they had been Eng-

340 MINSTRELSY OF

lysliemen. Whan lie approaclied, he lyft up hys vj'ser, and saluted.
Sir Galahaut, in the name of Sir Bartylmewe de Bonnes. Sir Gala-
haut helde himselfe styll secrete, and answered but fajiitly, and
sayd, ' Let us ryde forth;' and so rode on, and hys men, on the
one syde, and the Almaygnes on the other. Wliau Sir Renolde
of Boulant saw tlieyr maner, and how Sir Galahaut rode sometjTne
by hym, and spake no word, than he begane to suspecte. And he
had not so ryden, the space of a quarter of an. hour, but he stode
styll, under his baner, among his men, and sayd, ' Sir, I have
doubt what knyght ye be. I thinke ye be nat Sir Bartylmewe, for
I kuowe him well : and I see well that yt ys nat you. I woll ye
tell me your name, or I ryde any farther in your company.' There-
with Sir Galahaut lyft up hys vyser, and rode towards the knyght
to have taken hym by the raynse of his brydell, and cryed, ' Our
Ladye of Ryhamont ! ' Than Sir Roger of ColojTie said, ' Coloyne
to the rescue ! ' ' TNTian Sir Renolde of Boulant sawo what case
lie was in, he was nat greatly afrayd, but drewe out his sworde ;
and, as Sir Galahaut wolde have taken hym by the brvdell. Sir
Reynolde put his sworde clene through hym, and drue agayne hys
sworde out of liim, and toke his horse, with the spurres, and left
Sir Galahaute sore hurt. And, whan Sir Galahautes men sawe
theyr master in that case, they were sore dyspleasod, and set on Sir
Renoldes men ; theyre were many caste to the yerth, but as sone
as Sir Renolde had given Sir Galahaut that stroke, he strak his
horse with the spurres, and toke the feldes. Than certaj-ne of
Galahautes squyers chasyd hym, and, whan he sawe that they fol-
lowed hym so nere, that he muste other tourne agajTie, or els be
shamed, lyke a hardy knyghte he tourned, and abode the foremost,
and gave hym such a stroke, that he had no more lyste to folwe
him. And thus, as he rede on, he served three of theym, that
folowed hym, and wounded them sore ; if a good axe had been in
liys hand, at every stroke he had slayne a man. He d) d so muche,
that he was out of danger of the Frenfhinen, and saved himselfe
ivithout any hurte ; the whyclie hys enemyc* reputed for a grete
prowess, and so dyd all other that harde thereof; but hys men

1 The war-cries of tlieir families.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 341

were nere slayne or taken, but few that were saved. And Sir
Galahaut was caryed from thence sore hurt to Perone ; of that hurt
he was never after perfectly hole ; for he was a knycht of suche
courage, that, for all his hurte, he woidd not spare hymselfe ; where-
fore he Uved not long after."- — Froissart, vol. i. chap. 207.

Note Eo

They rade their horse, they ran their horse.
Then hovered on the lee, §c — P. 327, v. 4.

The sieges, during the middle ages, frequently afforded oppor-
tunity for single combat, of which the scene was usually the draw-
bridge, or barriers, of the town. The former, as the more despe-
rate place of battle, was frequently chosen by knights, who chose
to break a lance for honour and their ladies' love. In 1387, Sir
William Douglas, Lord of Nithsdale, upon the drawbridge of the
town of Carlisle, consisting of two beams, hardly two feet in
breadth, encountered and slew, first, a single champion of Eng-
land, and afterwards two, who attacked him together Forduni

Scotichronicon, lib, xiv. chap. 51.

" He brynt the suburbys of Carlele
And at the bareris he faucht sa wel.
That on thare bryg he slew a man.
The wychtast that in the town vves than :
Quhare, on a plaak of twa feet brade.
He stude, and swa gude payment made.
That he feld twa stout fechteris.
And but skath went till his feres."

Wyntown's CronyJcil, book ix. chap. 8.

These combats at the barriers, or palisades, which formed the
outer fortification of a town, were so frequent, that the mode of
attack and defence was early taught to the future knight, and con-
tinued long to be practised in the games of chivalry. The custom,
therefore, of defying the inhabitants of a besieged town to this sort

342 MINSTRELSY OP

of contest, \^•as liigUy fastionable in the middle ages ; and an army
could hardly appear before a place, without giving rise to a variety
of combats at the barriers, wliich were, in general, conducted with-
out any unfair advantage being taken on either part.

The following striking example of this romantic custom occurs
in Froissart. During the French wars of Edward the Black Prince,
and in the year 1370, a body of English, and of adventurers re-
tained in his service, approached the city of Noyon, then occupied
by a French garrison, and arrayed themselves, with displayed ban-
ners, before the town, defying the defenders to battle. " There
was a Scottysh knyghte' dyde there a goodly feate of armes, for he
departed fro his companye, hys speare in hys hand, and mounted
on a good horse, hys page behynde hym, and so came before the
barryers. Thys knyght was called Sir Johan Assueton,^ a hardy
man and a couragyous. Whan he was before the barryers of No-
yon, he lyghted a-fote, and sayd to hys page, ' Holde, kepe my
horse, and departe nat hens ;' and so wente to the barryers. And
wythyn the barryers there were good knyghts ; as. Sir John of
Roy, Sir Lancelot of Loutys, and a x or xii other, who had grete
jnarveyle what thys sayde knyght wolde do. Then he sayde to
them, ' Sirs, I am come hyder to se you. I se well, ye wyll nat
issue out of your barryers ; therefore I will entre, and I can and
Tvyll prove my knyghthode agaynst yours ; wyn mo and you can.'
And therewyth he layde on round about hym, and they at hym.
And thus, he alone fought agaynst them, more than an hour ; and
dyd hurte two or three of them ; so that they of the towne, on the
walles and garrettes, stode still, and behelde them, and had great
pleasure to regarde his valyauntjiess, and dyd him no hurte ; the
whiche they myght have done, if they hadde list to have shotte, or
cast stones at hym. And also the French knyghtes charged them to

i By the terms of the peace betwixt England and Scotland, the Scot-
tish were left at liberty to take service cither with France or England,
at their pleasure. Sir Robert Kiiolles, therefore, who commanded the
••xpedition, referred to in the ti'xt, had inuler his comniund a hundred
Scottish spears.

- Assiictnn is a corruption for Swinton. .Sir .lohn Swinton of Swinton
was a Scottish champion, noted for liis rournee and gigantic s tntiirp. [Sir
John Swlutou was one of Sir NV alter Scott "s own auccbtors. — Ku. J

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 343

let liym and tliem alone togyder. So long they fouglite, that at
last, Ills page came near to the barryers, and spake in liis language,
and sayd, ' Sir, come awaye ; it is time for you to departe, for your
cumpanye is departying hens.' The knyghte harde hym well, and
then gave a two or three strokes about him, and so, armed as he
was, he lept out of the barryers, and lepte upon his horse, without
any hurte, behynde lus page ; and sayd to the Frenchmen, ' Aduc,
sirs ! I thank you ; ' and so rode forthe to his own cumpanye. The
ivhiche dede was moche praysed of many folkes." — FiioissART, cap.
278.

The barriers, so often alluded to, are described, by the same
admirable historian, to be grated palisades, the grates being about
half a foot wide. In a skirmish before Honycourt, Sir Henry of
Flanders ventured to thrust his sword so far through one of those
spaces, that a sturdy abbot, who was within, seized his sword-arm,
and drew it through the barriers, up to the shoulder. In this awk-
ward situation he remained for some time, being unwilling to dis-
honour himself by quitting his weapon. He was at length rescued,
but lost his sword ; which Froissart afterwards saw preserved, as a

relic, in the monastery of Honycourt Vol. I. chap. 39. For

instances of single combats, at the barriers, see the same author,
passim.

Note F. ■

£ut, ivi' the poU-axe in his hand,

Upon the hrigg sprang he — P. 328, v. 2.
The battle-axe, of which there are many kinds, was a knightly
weapon, much used in the middle ages, as well in single combat as
in battle. " And also there was a young bachelor, called Ber-
trande of Glesguyne, who, during the seige, fought wyth an Eng-
lyshman called Sir Nycholas Dagerne ; and that battayle was
takene thre courses wythe a speare, thre strokes wyth an axe, and
thre wyth a dagger. And eche of these knyghtes bare themselves
so valyantly, that they departed fro the felde wythout any damage,
and they were well regarded, bothe of theyme wythyn, and they

344 MINSTRELSY OP

wythout." This happened at the siege of Rennes, by the Duke
of Lancaster, in 1357. — Fkoissart, vol. i. c. 175. With the
same weapon Godfrey of Harcourt long defended himself, when
surprised and defeated by the French. " And Sir Godfraye's
men kepte no good array, nor dyd nat as they had promised ; moost
part of theyme fledde ; whan Sir Godfraye sawe that, he sayde to
hymselfe, how he had rather there be slayne than be taken by the
Frenchmen; there he take hys axe in hys handes, and set fast the
one legge before the other, to stonde the more surely ; for hys one
legge vms a lytell crooked, hut he was strong in the amies. Ther
he fought valyantly and long ; none durste well abyde hys strokes ;
than two Frenchmen mounted on theyr horses, and ranne both
with their spears at once at hym, and so bare him to the yerth ;
then other, that were a-fote, came wyth theyr swerdes, and strake
hym into the body, under his barneys, so that ther he w;is slayne."
— Ibid. chap. 172. The historian throws Sir Godfrey into a stri-
king attitude of desperation.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 845

BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.

THE SCOTTISH EDITION.

The following- ballad of the Battle of Otterbourne,
being' essentially diiFerent from that which is published
in the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. i., and being-
obviously of Scottish composition, claims a place in the
present collection. The particulars of that noted action
are related by Froissart, with the highest encomiums
upon the valour of the combatants on each side. James,
Earl of Doug-las, with his brother the Earl of Murray,
in 1387, invaded Northumberland at the head of 3000
men, while the Earls of Fife and Strathern, sons to
the King- of Scotland, ravaged the Western Borders of
Eng-land, with a still more numerous army. Douglas
penetrated as far as Newcastle, where the renowned
Hotspur lay in garrison. In a skirmish before the walls,
Percy's lance, with the pennon, or guidon, attached to
it, was taken by Douglas — as most authors affirm, in a
personal encounter betwixt the two heroes. The Earl
shook the pennon aloft, and swore he would carry it as

346 MINSTRELSY OF

his spoil into Scotland, and plant it upon his Castle of
Dalkeith. " That," answered Percy, " shalt thou never ! "
Accordingly, having collected the forces of the Marches,
to a number equal, or (according- to the Scottish histo-
rians) much superior, to the army of Douglas, Hot-
spur made a night attack upon the Scottish camp, at
Otterbourne, about thirty-two miles from Newcastle.
An action took place, fought by moonlight, with un-
common gallantry and desperation. At length Douglas,
armed with an iron mace, which few but he could wield,
rushed into the thickest of the English battalions, fol-
lowed only by his chaplain, and two squires of his bodv.^
Before his followers could come up, their brave leader
was stretched on the ground, with three mortal wounds ;
his squires lay dead by his side ; the priest alone, arm-
ed with a lance, was protecting- his master from farther
injury. " I die like mv forefathers," said the expiring
hero, " in a field of battle, and not on a lied of sickness.
Conceal my death, defend my standard," and avenge
my fall ! it is an old prophecy, that a dead man shall

' Their names were Robert Hurt and Simon Glenilinniiig. Tim
chaplain was Richard Lundie, afterwards Archdeacon of Aberdeen. —
GoDscROFT. Hart, according to Wintoun, was a knight. That
historian says, no one knew how Douglas fell.

'' The banner of Douglas, upon this memorable occasion, was
borne by his natural son, Archibald Douglas, ancestor of the fa-
mily of Cavers, hereditary Sheriffs of Teviotdale, amongst whose
archives this glorio\is relic is still preserved. The Earl, at his onset,
is sai.l to have charged his son to defend it to the la^t drop of his
bluod.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 347

gain a iiekl,^ and I hope it will be accomplished this
night." — GoDSCROFT. With these words he expi-
red ; and the fight was renewed with double obstinacy
around his body. When morning appeared, however,
victory began to incline to the Scottish side. Ralph
Percy, brother to Hotspur, was made prisoner by the
Earl Mareschal, and shortly after, Harry Percy" him-
self was taken by Lord Montgomery. The number
of captives, according to Wintoun, nearly equalled that
of the victors. Upon this the English retired, and left
the Scots masters of the dear-bought honours of the
field. But the Bishop of Durham approaching at the
head of a body of fresh forces, not only checked the
pursuit of the victors, but made prisoners of some of
the stragglers, who had urged the chase too far. The
battle was not, however, renewed, as the Bishop of
Durham did not venture to attempt the rescue of Percy.
The field was fought 15th August, 1388. — Fordun,
Froissart, Hollinshed, Godscroft.

The ground on which this memorable engagement
took place, is now the property of John Davidson, Esq.
of Newcastle, and still retains the name of Battle-Cross.
A cross, erroneously termed Percy's Cross, has been
erected upon the spot where the gallant Earl of Dou-
glas is supposed to have fallen. The Castle of Otter-
bourne, which was besieged by Douglas, with its

' This proptecy occurs in tlie ballad as an ominous dream.
^ Hotspur, for his ransom, built the castle of Penoon, in Ayrshire,
belonging to the family of Montgomery, now Earls of Eglintoun,

348 MINSTRELSY OF

demesne lands, is now the property of James Ellis, Esq.,
who is also a proprietor of a neighbouring; eminence
called Fawdoun hill, on which may yet be discerned the
vestiges of the Scottish camp, agreeing- with the de-
scription of the ballad, " They lighted high on Otter-
bourn." Earl's Meadows, containing- a iine spring- called
Percy's well, are a part of the same gentleman's g-rounds,
and probably derive their name from the battle. The
camp on Fawdoun hill is a mile distant from Battle-
Cross ; but it must be remembered that the various
chang-es of position and of fortune during- so long- and
fierce an engagement between two considerable armies,
must have extended the conflict over all the vicinity.

The ballad published in the Reliques, is avowedly
an English production ; and the author, with a natural
partiaUty, leans to the side of his countrymen : yet that
ballad, or some one similar, modified probably by na-
tional prejudice, must have been current in Scotland
during the reign of James VI. ; for Godscroft, in
treating of this battle, mentions its having been the
subject of popular song, and proceeds thus : " But that
which is commonly sung of the Hunting of Cheviot,
seemeth indeed poetical, and a mere fiction, perhaj^s to
stir up virtue ; yet a fiction whereof there is no men-
tion, either in the Scottish or English Chronicle. Nei-
ther are the songs that are made of them both one ; for
the Scots song made of Ottcrhourne telleth the time,
about Lammas ; and also the occasion, to take preys
out of England ; also the dividing armies betwixt the

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 349

Earls of Fife and Douglas, and tlieir several journeys,
almost as in the authentic history. It beginneth thus :

' It fell about tlie Lammas tide,

When yeomen win their hay,
The dochty Douglas 'gan to ride,

In England to take a prey. ' "

GoDscROFT, ed. Edin. 1743, vol. i. p. 195.

I cannot venture to assert, that the stanzas, here
published, belong to the ballad alluded to by Gods-
croft ; but they come much nearer to his description
than the copy published in the first edition,^ which re-

' [" Out then spoke a bonny boy,

That serv'd ane o' Earl Douglas' kin —
' JMethinks I see an English host,

A coming branking us upon.'

" ' It' this be true, thou little foot page,

If this be true thou tells to me,
The brawest bower in Otterbourne

Shall be thy morning's fee.

" ' But if it be false, thou little boy !

But and a lie thou teUs to me,
On the highest tree in Otterbourue,

Wi' my ain hands, I'll hang the hie !

" The boy has ta'en out his little penknife.

That hung right low down by his gare.
And he gave Lord Douglas a deadly wound,

I wot a deep wound and a sare.

" Earl Douglas to the JMontgomery said,
' Take thou the vanguard of the three ;

And bury me by the braken bush,
That grows upon yon lilye lee.' "]

Minstrelsy, 1st Edit., Vol. i. p. 32.

330 MINSTRELSY OF

presented Doug-las as falling; by the poniard of a faith-
less page. Yet we learn from the same author, that the
story of the assassination was not without foundation

in tradition " There are that say, that he [Douglas]

was not slain by the enemy, but by one of his own
men, a g-room of his chamber, whom he had struck the
day before with a truncheon, in ordering of the battle,
because he saw him make somewhat slowly to. And
they name this man John Bickerton of Luffness, who
left a part of his armour behind unfastened, and when
he was in the greatest conflict, this servant of his
came behind his back, and slew him thereat." — Gods-
croft, uf supra — " But this narration," adds the his-
torian, " is not so probable." ^ Indeed it seems to have
no foundation, but the common desire of assig-ning-
some remote and extraordinary cause for the death of
a great man. The following ballad is also inaccurate
in many other particulars, and is much shorter and
more indistinct, than that printed in the Reliques, al-
though many verses are almost the same. Hotspur,

' Wintoun assigns anotlier cause for Douglas buiiig carelessly
armed :

" 'l"lu' F.ilo Janiys was sa bosy.

For til orJane his company.

And on his fays for to pas,

That reckles he of his armyng was ;

The F.rle of ^Nlwrrawys baiisenet.

Thai sayd, at tliot tyino was ferryhote."

Hook Vni. Chap. 7.
The circumstance of Douglas' omitting to put on liis helmet occurs
iu the ballad.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 351

for instance, is called Earl Percy, a title he never en-
joyed. Neither was Douglas buried on the field of
battle, but in Melrose Abbey, where his tomb is still
shown.

This song was first pidjlished from Mr Herd's Col-
lection of Scottish Songs and Ballads, Edin. 1774,
2 vols, octavo ; but fortunately two copies have since
been obtained from the recitation of old persons re-
siding' at the head of Ettrick Forest, by which the
story is brought out, and completed in a manner much
more correspondent to the true history.

I cannot dismiss the subject of the battle of Otter-
bourne, without stating- (with all the deference due to
the father of this species of literature) some doubts
which have occurred to an ingenious correspondent,
and an excellent antiquary, concerning the remarks on
the names subjoined to the ballads of Chevy Chace
and Otterbourne, in the Reliques of Ancient Poetry,
vol. i. p. 34, 4th edition.

" John de Lovele, Sheriff of Northumberland, 34th
Hen. VH.," is evidently a mistake, as Henry VH. did
not reign quite twenty-four years ; but the person
meant was probably John de Lavale, knight, of Dela-
vale Castle, who was sheriff, 34th Henry VIH. There
seems little doubt that this was the person called in the
ballad " the gentil Lovel." Sir Raff the rich Rugbe,was
probably Sir Ralph Neville of Raby Castle, son of the
first Earl of Westmorland, and cousin-german to

352 MINSTRELSY OF

Hotspur. In the more modern edition of the ballad,
he is expressly called Sir Ralph Raby, i. e. of Raby.

With respect to the march of Douglas, as described
in the ballad, it appears that he entered Northumber-
land from the westward. Redesdale, Rothely-crags,
and Green Leighton, are a few miles eastward of Ot-
terbourne. Otterscope hill lies south-west from Green
Leighton.

The celebrated Hotspur, son of the first Earl of
Northumberland, was, in 1385, Governor of Berwick,
and Warden of the East Marches ; in which last capa-
city it was his duty to repel the invasion of Douglas.

Sir Henry Fitzhugh, mentioned in the ballad, was
one of the Earl of Northumberland's commanders at
the battle of Homeldown.

As to the local situation of Otterbourne, it is thirty
statute miles from Newcastle, though Buchanan has
diminished the distance to eight miles only.

The account given of Sir John of Agurstone seems
also liable to some doubt. This personage is supposed
by Bishop Percy to have been one of the Hagerstons
of Hagerston, a Northumbrian family, who, according
to the fate of war, were sometimes subjects of Scot-
land. I cannot, however, think, that at this period,
while the English were in possession both of Berwick
and Roxburgh, with the intermediate fortresses of
Wark, Cornhill, and Norham, the Scots possessed any
part of Northumberland, much less a manor a hich lay
w ithin that strong chain of castles. I should jn-esume

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 353

the person alluded to rather to have been one of the
Rutherfords, Barons of Edgerstane, or Edg-erston, a
warlike family, which has long flourished on the Scot-
tish Borders, and who were, at this very pei'iod, re-
tainers of the house of Douglas. The same notes
contain an account of the other Scottish warriors of
distinction who were present at the battle. These
were, the Earls of Monteith, Buchan, and Huntly ;
the Barons of Maxwell and Johnston ; Swinton of
that ilk, an ancient family, which about that period
produced several distinguished warriors ; Sir David (or
rather, as the learned Bishop well remarks. Sir Walter)
Scott of Buccleuch, Stewart of Garlies, and Murray of
Cockpool.

" Regibus et legibits, Scotici constantes,
Vos clypeis et gladiis pro patriis pugnaiites,
Vestra est victoria, vestri est et gloria.
In cantu et historia, jxrjjes est memoria ! "

354 MINSTRELSY OF

BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.

. 3

It fell about the Lammas tide,

When the muir-men win their hay,

The doughty Doug-las bound him to ride
Into England, to drive a prey.

He chose the Gordons^ and the Graemes,"
With them the Lindesays, light and gay

But the Jardinos wald not with him ride.
And they rue it to this day.*

And he has burn'd the dales of Tyne,
And part of Bambrough shire ;

> See Note A, p. 3(J3 ^ See Note B, p. oGb ' See Note

C, p. 365.

* The Jardines wore a clan ot" li.irdy West-Border men. Their
chief was Jardiiio of Applejjirth. Their refusal to rido with Dou-
glas was, probably, tlie result of one of those perpetual feuds, which
usually runt to jueces a Scottish army.

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN.

i

^

^

i

s^

n

*=t=3t

It fell a - bout the Lammas time, When

ORTE. ^ "•" •

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN, CONTINUED.

^mE

^=ii=F=?-

^

him To ride to Eng • - - land to

3^^i^^

3i

-5 »-r

i^

t — r

^

^^=f^^

^^^

drive a prey.

I

^F^==^

?=^

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 355

And three good towers on Reidswire fells,
He left them all on fire.

And he march'd up to Newcastle,

And rode it round about ;
" O wha's the lord of this castle.

Or wha's the lady o't ? " —

But up spake proud Lord Percy, then,

And O but he spake hie !
" I am the lord of this castle.

My wife's the lady gay."

'' If thou'rt the lord of this castle,

Sae weel it pleases me !
For, ere I cross the Border fells,

The tane of us shall die." —

He took a lang- spear in his hand,

Shod with the metal free,
And for to meet the Douglas there.

He rode right furiouslie.

But O how pale his lady look'd,

Frae aff the castle wa'.
When down before the Scottish spear

She saw proud Percy fa'.

356" MINSTRELSY OF

I

!
" Had we twa been upon the green,

And never an eye to see,
I wad hae had you, flesh and fell ;'

But youi; sword sail gae wi' me." —

" But gae ye up to Otterbourne,

And wait there dayis three ;
And, if I come not ere three dayis end,

A fause knight ca' ye me." —

" The Otterbourne's a bonnie burn ;

'Tis pleasant there to be ;
But there is nought at Otterbourne,

To feed mv men and me.

" The deer rins wild dii hill and dale,
The birds fly wild from tree to tree ;

But there is neither bread nor kale,
To fend" mv men and me.

" Yet I will stay at Otterbourne,

Where you shall welcome be ;
And, if ye come not at three dayis end,

A fause lord I'll ca' thee."—

1 Fell — Hide. Douglas insinuates, that Percy was rcscucil bj
his soldiers.

* Fend— Support

THE SCOTTISH BORDER.

" Thither will I come," proud Percy said,
" By the might of Our Ladye !" —

" There will I l>ide thee," said the Douglas,
" My troth I i)light to thee."

They lighted high on Otterhourne,

Upon the bent sae brown ;
They lighted high on Otterhourne,

And threw their pallions down.

And he that had a bonnie boy,

Sent out his horse to grass ;
And he that had not a bonnie boy,

His ain servant he was.^

But up then spake a little page,

Before the peep of dawn —
" O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord.

For Percy's hard at hand." —

" Ye lie, ye lie, ve liar loud !
Sae loud I hear ve lie :

' Froissart describes a Scottish host, of the same period, as con-
sisting of " IIII. M. men of armes, knightis, and squires, mount-
ed on good horses ; and other X. M. men of warre, armed, after
their gyse, right hardy and firse, mounted on lytle hackneys, the
whiche were never tied, nor kept at hard meat, but leite go to
pasture in the fieldis and bushes." — Chronykle of Froissart, trans-
lated by Lord Berners, chap. xvli.

S58 MINSTRELSY OF

For Percy had not men yestreen^
To (light my men and me.

" But I have dream'd a dreary dream,

Beyond the Isle of Sky ;
I saw a dead man win a fight,

And I think that man was I. "

The English ballad has here : —

'* ' Now, by my troth,' the Douglas saved,

' It ys but a fayned tayle ;
He durst not looke on my broad bauner,

For all Ynglande so hay lie.'

" He stepped owt at his pavelyon door,

To loke an it were lesse ;
* Araye you, lordyngs, one and all.

For here begynnes no peace.

" * The Yerle of Jlentaye' thou art my eme,*

The forwarde I give to thee ;
The Yerle of Huntley, eawte and keue,

He shall with thee be.

•' ' The Lord of Bouchan in arnuiro bright,

On the other hand ho shiiU !>.■ ;
Lord Johnstone and Lord Maxwidl,

They two shall be with me.

" ' Swinton, fay re field upon your pride.

For battle make yuu buun ;
Syr Davy Scott, Syr Midtcr Stowarde,

Syr Jhon of Agurstouo.

1 -Alouteith— « I'liclo.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 359

He belted on his guid braid sword,

And to the field he ran ;
But he forgot the helmet good,

That should have kept his brain.

When Percy wi' the Douglas met,

I wat he was fu' fain !
They swakked their swords, till sair they swat,

And the blood ran down like rain.^

But Percy with his good broad sword,

That could so sharply wound,
Has wounded Douglas on the brow.

Till he fell to the ground.

Then he call'd on his little foot-page.

And said — " Run speedilie,
And fetch my ain dear sister's son,

Sir Hugh Montgomery.

" My nephew good," the Douglas said,
" What recks the death of ane !

^ " The Percy and tlie Douglas mette,

That ether of other was fayne ;
They schapped together whyll that they sweette,

With swords of line Collayne, '
Tyll the bloode from their bassonets ran,
As the brooke doth in the rayne."

English Ballad.
1 Colog-ne steel.

360 MINSTRELSY OF

Last night I dream 'd a dreary dream,
And I ken the day's thy ain.

" My wound is deep ; I fain would sleep ;

Take thou the vanguard of the three,
And hide me by the braken^ Imsh,

That grows on yonder lilye lee.

" O bury me by the braken bush,
Beneath the blooming brier,

Let never living- mortal ken.

That ere a kindly Scot lies here."

He lifted up that nol)le lord,
Wi' the saut tear in his ee ;

He hid him in the l)raken bush.

That his merrio-men might not see.

The moon was clear, the day drew near,

The spears in flinders flew.
But mony a gallant Englishman

Ere day the Scotsmen slew.

The Gordons good, in English blood,
They steep'd their hose and shoon ;

The Lindsays llew like lir(> al»out.
Till all the fr;iy was done.

' Braken — Fcrii,
2

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 361

The Percy and Montgomery met,

That either of other were fain ;
They swapped swords, and they twa swat,

And aye the blood ran down between.

" Now yield thee, yield thee, Percy," he said,
" Or else I vow I'll lay thee low ! " —

" To whom must I yield," quoth Earl Percy,
" Now that I see it must be so ? " —

" Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loun.

Nor yet shalt thou yield to me ;
But yield thee to the braken bush,

That grows upon yon lilye lee !" —

" I will not yield to a braken bush,

Nor yet will I yield to a brier ;
But I would yield to Earl Douglas,

Or Sir Hugh the Montgomery, if he were here."

As soon as he knew it was Montgomery,^
He struck his sword's point in the gronde ;

[la one copy the line stands :

" As soon as he knew it was Sir Hugli." — Ed]

362 MINSTRELSY OF

The Montgomery was a courteous knight,
And quickly took him by the houde.^

This deed was done at the Otterbourne
About the breaking of the day ;

Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush,
And the Percy led captive away.

' [Here the English ballad of Otterbourne has that exquisite
Verse, almost the same as in the elder Chevy Chase :
" Then on the morn they made them heeres

Of birch and hazell gray ;
Mony a widow with weeping- tears.
Their makes they fette away."]

THE SCOTTISH BORDER.

sea

APPENDIX.

Note A.

He chose the Gordons P. 354, v, 2.

The illustrious family of Gordon was originally settled upon the
lands of Gordon and Huntly, in tlie shire of Berwick, and are,
therefore, of Border extraction. The steps by which they remo-
ved from thence to the shires of Aberdeen and Inverness, are
worthy of notice. In 1300, Adam de Gordon was Warden of the
Marches. — Ryjier, vol. ii, p. 870. He obtained, from Robert
the Bruce, a grant of the forfeited estate of David de Strathbolgie,
Earl of Athol ; but no possession followed, the earl having return-
ed to his allegiance. — John de Gordon, his great grandson, ob-
tained, from Robert II., a new charter of the lands of Strathbol-
gie, which had been once more and finally forfeited by David,
Earl of Athol, slain in the battle of Kilblane. This grant is dated
13th July, 1376. John de Gordon, who was destined to transfer,
from the Borders of England to those of the Highlands, a power-
ful and martial race, was himself a redoubted warrior, and many
of his exploits occur in the annals of that turbulent period. In
1371-2, the English Borderers invaded and plundered the lands
of Gordon, on the Scottish East JMarch. Sir John of Gordon re-
tahated, by an incursion on Northumberland, where he collected
much spoil. But as he returned with his booty, he was attacked,
at unawares, by Sir John Lilburne, a Northumbrian, who, with

364 MINSTRELSY OF

a superior force, lay near Carham in ambush, to intercept liim.
Gordon harangued and cheered his followers, charged the English
gallantly, and, after having himself been five times in great peril,
gained a complete victory, slaying many Southrons, and taking
their leader and his brother captive. According to the Prior of
Lochlevin, he was desperately wounded ; but

" There rays a welle grete renowne.
And gretly prysyd wes gud Gordown."

Shortly after this exploit, Sir John of Gordon encountered and
routed Sir Thomas jMusgrave, a renowned English iMarchmaii,
whom he made prisoner. The Lord of Johnstone had, about tin-
same time, gained a great advantage on the West Border ; and
hence, says Wyntoun,

" He and the Lord of Gordowne
Had a soverane gud renown,
Of ony that war of thare degre.
For full thai war of gretbounte."

Upon another occasion. Sir John of Gordon is said to have
partially succeeded in the surprisal of the town of Berwick, al-
though the superiority of the garrison obliged him to relimjuish his
enterprise.

The ballad is accurate, in introducing this warrior, with his clan.
into the host of Douglas at Otterbourne. Perhaps, as he was iii
possession of his extensive northern domains, he brought to the
field the northern broadswords, as well as the lances of liis ca.-t''n\
Borderers. With his gallant leader, he lost his life in the dea.lly
conflict. The English ballad commemorates his valour ;i#d pru-
dence :

" The Ycrlc of Huntley, cawte andkene."

But the title is a premature designation. The Earldom of Iluntly
was first conferred on Alexander »Seaton, who married the grand-
daughter of the hero of Otterbourne, and assumed his title from
Ilunfly. in the north. Besides his eldest son Adam, who carrii'd
on thi' line of the family. Sir John <le (ior.lon l.-ft two sons, kno»n
in tradition bv the familiar uouies of Jock and Tarn. The former

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 365

was the ancestor of the Gordons of Pitlurg ; the latter of those of
Lesmoir, and of Craig-Gordon. This last family is now repre-
sented by James Gordon, Esq. of Craig, being the eleventh, in
direct descent, from Sir John de Gordon.

Note B.

.... and the Grames P. 354, v. 2.

The clan of Graeme, always numerous and powerful upon the
Border, were of Scottish origin, and deduce the descent of their
chieftain, Grseme of Netherby, from John with the bright sword,
a son of Malice Grseme, Earl of Menteith, who flourished in the
fourteenth century. Latterly, they became Englishmen, as the
phrase went, and settled upon the Debateable Land, whence they
were transported to Ireland, by James VL, with the exception of
a very few respectable famiUes ; " because," said his Majesty in a
proclamation, " they do all (but especially the Grsemes) confess
themselves to be no meet persons to live in these countries ; and
also to the intent their lands may be inhabited by others, of good
and honest conversation." But, in the reign of Henry IV., the
Grsemes of the Border still adhered to the Scottish allegiance, as
appears from the tower of Graeme in Annandale, Graeme's Walls in
Tweeddale, and other castles within Scotland, to wliich they have
given their name. The reader is, however, at liberty to suppose,
that the Graemes of the Lennox and Menteith, always ready to
shed their blood in the cause of their country, on this occasion
joined Douglas.

Note C.

With them the Lindesays light and gay — P. 354, v. 2.

The chief of this ancient family, at the date of the battle of
Otterbourne, was David Lindissay, Lord of Glenesk, afterwards

"6Q MINSTRELSY OF

created Earl of Crawford. He was, after the manner of the times, a
most accomplished knight. He sur\'ived the battle of Otterbourne,
and the succeeding carnage of Homildon. In I\Iay, 1390, he went
to England, to seek adventures of chivalry ; and justed, upon Lon-
don Bridge, against the Lord of Wells, an English knight, with so
much skiU and success, as to excite among the spectators a suspi-
cion that he was tied to his saddle ; which he removed, by riding
up to the royal chair, vaulting out of liis saddle, and resuming his
seat without assistance, although loaded with complete armour. la
1392, Lindsay was nearly slain in a strange manner. A band of
Caterans, or wUd Highlanders, had broken down from the Gram-
pian HLUs, and were engaged in plundering the county of Angus.
Walter OgUvy, the sheriff, and Sir Patrick Gray, marched
against them, and were joined by Sir David Lindsay. Their whole
retinue did not exceed sixty men, and the Highlanders were above
three hundred. Nevertheless, trusting to the superiority of arms
and discipline, the knights rushed on the invaders at Gascluue, in
the Storniont. The issue was unfortunate. OgUvy, liis brother,
and many of his kindred, were overpowered and slain. Lindsay,
armed at all points, made great slaughter among the naked Cate-
rans ; but as he pinned one of them to the earth with his lance,
the dying mountaineer writhed upwards, and, collecting his force,
fetched a blow with his broadsword, which cut through the knight's
stirrup leather and steel boot, and nearly severed his leg. The
Highlander expired, and Limlsay was with difficulty borne out of
the field by his followers. — Wyntown. Lindsav is also noted for a
retort made to the famous Hotspur. At a AL-irch meeting, at
Haldane Stank, he happened to observe, that Percy was sheathed
in complete armour. " It is for fear of the English horsemen,"
1-aid Percy, in explanation ; for he was jdready meditating the in-
surrection immortalized by Shakspeare. " Ah ! Sir Harrv," .an-
swered Lindsay, " I have seen you more sorely bested by Scottish
footmen than by English horse." — Wyntown. Such was the
leader of the " Lindesaijs light and pay."

According to Eroissart, there were ihree Lindsays in the battle
of Otterbourne, whom he calls Sir William, Sir James, and .Sir
Alexander. To Sir James Lbdsay there fell " a strange chance

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 367

of war," wliicli I give in the words of tlie old Listorian. " I
sliall show you of Sir Mathewe Reedmaii, (an English warrior, and
governor of Berwick,) who was on horsebacke, to save himselfe,
for he alone coulde not remedy the matter. At his departjiige. Sir
James Lindsay was nere him, and sawe Sir Mathewe departed.
And this Sir James, to wjti honour, followed in chase Sir Mathewe
Reedman, and came so near him, that he myght have stryken hym
with hys speare, if he had lyst. Than he said, ' A ! Sir Knyght,
tourne ! it is a shame thus to fly ! I am James of Lindsay. If ye
will nat tourne, I shall strike you on the backe with my speare.'
Sir Mathewe spoke no worde, but struke his hors with liis spurres
sorer than he did before. In this maner he chased him more
than three myles. And at last Sir Mathewe Reedman's hors foim-
dered, and fell under him. Than he stept forthe on the erthe, and
drewe out his swerde, and toke corage to defend himselfe. And
the Scote thoughte to have stryken him on the brest, but Sir
Mathewe Reedman swerved fro the stroke, and the speare point
entred into the erthe. Than Sir Mathewe strak asonder the
speare wyth his swerde. And whan Sir James Lindsay saw howe
he had lost his speare, he cast away the tronchon, and lyghted
a-fote, and toke a lytell battell-axe, that he carryed at his backe,
and handled it with his one hand, quickly and delyverly, in the
whyche feate Scottes be well experte. And than he set at Sir
Mathewe, and he defended himselfe properly. Thus they jour-
neyed toguyder, one with an axe, and the other with a swerde, a
longe season, and no man to lette them. Fynally, Sir James
Lindsay gave the knyght such strokes, and held him so short, that
he was putte out of brethe in such wyse, that he yielded himselfe,
and sayde, ' Sir James Lindsay, I yelde me to you.' — ' Well,'
quod he ; ' and I receyve you, rescue or no rescue.' — ' I am con-
tent, ' quod Reedman, ' so ye dele wyth me like a good compan-
yon.' — ' I shall not fayle that,' quod Lindsay, and so put up his
swerde — ' Well,' said Reedman, 'what will yenowe that I shaU
do ? — I am your prisoner ; ye have conquered me ; I wolde gladly
go agayn to Newcastell, and, within fiftene dayes, I shall come to
you into Scotland, whereas ye shall assign me.' — ' I am content,'
quod Lindsay ; ' ye shall promyse, by your faythe, to present your-

368 MINSTRELSY OF '

i

selfe, within these four weeks, at Ediaborowe ; and wheresover \ e
go, to repute yourselfe my prisoner.' All this Sir Mathewe swarc,
and promised to fulfil."

The warriors parted upon these liberal terms, and Reedmaii n>-
turned to Newcastle. But Lindsay had scarcely ridden a mil' .
when he met the Bishop of Durham, with 500 horse, whom In
rode towards, believing them to be Scottish, until he was too m ar
them to escape. " The byshoppe stepte to him, andsayde, ' Liml-
say, ye are taken ; yielde ye to me.' — ' Who be you ?' quod Liml-
say. — ' I am,' quod he, 'the Byshoppe of Durham.' — ' And im
whens come you, sir?' quod Lindsay. ' I come fro the batti II.
quod the bishoppe, ' but I strucke never a stroke there. I go back
to Newcastell for this night, and ye shal go with me.' — ' I may
not chuse,' quod Lindsay, ' sith ye will have it so. I have taken,
and I am taken ; such is the adventures of armes.' " — Lindsay was
accordingly conveyed to the bishop's lodgings in Newcastle, and
here he was met by his prisoner Sir ^Matthew Reedman ; who
" founde him in a study e, lying in a windowe, and sayde, ' ^^^^at !
Sir James Lindsay, what make you here ? ' — Than Sir James came
lorth of the studye to him, and sayde, ' By my fayth, Sir Mathewe,
fortune hath brought ine hydcr ; for, as soon as I was departed fro
you, I mete by chaunce the Byshoppe of Durham, to whom 1 am
prisoner, as ye be to me. I belcve ye shal not nede to come to
Edenborowe to me to mak your fynaunce. I think, rather, we shal
make an exchange one for another, if the byshoppe be iilso con-
tente.' — ' Well, sir,' quod Reedman, ' we shall accord ryght well
toguyder ; ye shal dine this day with me ; the byshoppe and our
men be gone forth to fyght with your men. I can nat tell what
we shall know at their retourne.' — ' I am content to dine with you,"
»liio<l Lindsay." — Froissart's Chronicle, translated by Bourchier.
Lord Berners, vol. i. chap. 14(j.

" 0 gran bontci de' caralieri aiiliiiii!
Eriin rirali, rran di fc diver.ii ;
E si scntian de gti ittpri colpi iniqtii
Per tutta la persona anco dolersi ;
E pur perselve oscure, e calle iniqui
Jnsianc ran senxu sospcl/ti arersi."

I/Orlundo.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 369

THE SANG

THE OUTLAW MURRAY.

This ballad appears to have been composed about
the reign of James V. It commemorates a transac-
tion, supposed to have taken place betwixt a Scottish
monarch, and an ancestor of the ancient family of Mur-
ray of Philiphaugh, in Selkirkshire. The Editor is
unable to ascertain the historical foundation of the tale;
nor is it probable that any light can be thrown upon
the subject, without an accurate examination of the
family charter-chest. It is certain, that, during the
civil wars betwixt Bruce and Baliol, the family of Phi-
hphaugh existed, and was powerful ; for their ancestor,
Archibald de Moravia, subscribes the oath of fealty to
Edward I., A.D. 1296. It is, therefore, not unlikely,
that, residing in a wild and frontier country, they may
have, at one period or other, during these commotions,
refused allegiance to the feeble monarch of the day, and
thus extorted from him some grant of territory or juris-

VOL. I. 2 a

370 , MINSTRELSY OF

diction. It is also certain, that, by a charter from James
IV., dated November 30, 1 509, John Murray of PhiHp-
haugh is vested with the dignity of heritable Sherltf
of Ettrick Forest, an office held bv his descendants
till the final abolition of such jurisdictions by 28th
Geo. II., cap. 23. But it seems difficult to believe,
that the circumstances mentioned in the ballad could
occur under the reign of so vig-orous a monarch as
James IV. It is true, that the Dramatis Personce in-
troduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth, or
beginning- of the sixteenth century ; but from this it
can only be argued, that the author himself lived soon
after that period. It may, therefore, be supposed, (un-
less farther evidence can be produced, tending to inva-
lidate the conclusion,) that the bard. Milling to pav his
court to the family, has connected his grant of the she-
riffship by James IV., with some former dispute be-
twixt the Murrays of Philiphaugh and their sovereign,
occurring either while they were engaged upon thi'
side of Baliol, or in the subsequent reigns of David II.
and Robert II. and III., when the English posses-cd
great part of the Scottish frontier, and the rest was in
8o lawless a state as hardly to acknowletlge any supe-
rior.

At the same time, this reasoning is not al)solutelv
conclusive. James IV. had j)articular reasons lor
desiring that Ettrick Forest, which actually formed
part of the jointure lands of Margaret, his Queen,
should be kept in a state of tranquillity. — Rvmlk,

f

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 371

vol. xiii. p. 66. In order to accomplish this object,
it was natural for him, according- to the policy of his
predecessors, to invest one great family with the power
of keeping- order among the rest. It is even probable,
that the Philiphangh family may have had claims upon
part of the lordship of Ettrick Forest, which lay in-
termingled with their own extensive possessions ; and,
in the course of arranging, not, indeed, the feudal su-
periority, but the property of these lands, a dispute
may have arisen, of sufficient importance to be the
groundwork of a ballad.

It is farther probable, that the Murrays, like other
Border clans, were in a very lawless state, and held
their lands merely by occupancy, without any feudal
right. Indeed the lands of the various proprietors in
Ettrick Forest, (being a royal demesne,) were held
by the possessors, not in property, but as the kindly
tenants, or rentallers, of the crown ; and it is only
about 1 50 years since they obtained charters, striking
the feu-duty of each proprietor at the rate of the quit
rent which he formerly paid. This state of possession
naturally led to a confusion of rights and claims. The
Kings of Scotland were often reduced to the humilia-
ting necessity of compromising such matters with their
rebellious subjects, and James himself even entered into
a sort of league with Johnnie Faa, the king of the
gipsies. Perhaps, therefore, the tradition, handed down
in this song, may have had more foundation than it
would at present be proper positively to assert.

372 MINSTRELSY OP \

The merit of this beautiful old tale, it is thought,
will be fully acknowledged. It has been, for ages, a
popular song in Selkirkshire. The scene is, by the
common people, supposed to have been the Castle of
Newark upon Yarrow. This is highly improbable, be-
cause Newark was always a royal fortress. Indeed, the
late excellent antiquarian, Mr Plummer, Sheriff-depute
of Selkirkshire, has assured the Editor, that he remem-
bered the insignia of the unicorns, &c., so often men-
tioned in the baUad, in existence upon the old Tower
of Hangingshaw, the seat of the Philiphaugh family ;
although, upon lirst perusing a copy of the ballad, he
was inclined to subscribe to the popular opinion. The
Tower of Hangingshaw has been demolished for many
years. It stood in a romantic and solitary situation,
on the classical banks of the Yarrow. When the
mountains around Hangingshaw were covered with the
wild copse which constituted a Scottish forest, a more
secure stronghold for an outlawed baron can scarcely
be imagined.

The tradition of Ettrick Forest bears, that the out-
law was a man of prodigious strength, possessing a
baton or club, with which he laid lee (i. e. waste) the
country for many miles round ; and that he was at
length slain by Buccleuch, or some of his clan, at a little
mount, covered with lir-trees, adjoining toNewark Castle,
and said to have been a part of the garden.' A varying

' [The hollow uuilcr tlus niouut is called by tho couutry people.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 373

tradition bears tbe place of his death to have been near
to the house of the Duke of Buccleuch's gamekeeper,
beneath the castle ; and that the fatal arrow was shot
by Scott of Haining, from the ruins of a cottage on the
opposite side of Yarrow. There were extant, within
these twenty years, some verses of a song on his death.
The feud betwixt the Outlaw and the Scots, may serve
to explain the asperity with which the chieftain of that
clan is handled in the ballad.

In publishing the following ballad, the copy princi-
pally resorted to is one, apparently of considerable anti-
quity, which was found among the papers of the late
Mrs Cockburn of Edinburgh, a lady whose memory
will be long honoured by all who knew her.^ Another
copy, much more imperfect, is to he found in Glen-
riddel's MSS. The names are in this last miserably
mangled, as is always the case when ballads are taken
down from the recitation of persons living at a distance
from the scenes in which they are laid. Mr Plummer
also gave the Editor a few additional verses, not contain-
ed in either copy, which are thrown into what seemed
their proper place. There is yet another copy in Mr
Herd's MSS., which has been occasionally made use
of. Two verses are restored in the present edition,
from the recitation of Mr Mungo Park, whose toils

" slain-man's lee ; " and a number of human bones were found there
a few years ago in making a drain. 1830. — Ed.]

' [Mrs Cockburn of Ormistoun, the authoress of the " Flowers
of the Forest." — Ed.]

374 MINSTRELSY OF

<luring' his patient and intrepid travels in Africa, have I
not eradicated from his recollection the legendary lore i
of his native country,^ I

The arms of the Philiphaugh family are said by tra-
dition to allude to their outlawed state. They arc.
indeed, those of a huntsman, and are blazoned thus : —
Argent, a hunting--horn sable, stringed and g-arnislicd
gules, on a chief azure, three stars of the first. Ci\>t.
II Demi-Forester, winding his horn, proper. Motto,
Mine usque superna venahor.

[' The cottage in wliicli Mungo Park was liorn stands neail\
opposite to Newark Castle, on the Yarrow. — Ed.]

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 375

THE SANG

THE OUTLAW MURRAY.

Ettricke Forests is a feir foreste,

In it grows manie a semelie trie ;
There's hart and hynd, and dae and rae,

And of a' wikle hestis grete plentie.

There's a feir castelle, bigged wi' lyme and stane ;

O ! gin it stands not pleasauntUe !
In the fore front o' that castelle feir,

Twa unicorns are bra' to see ;
There's the picture of a knight, and a ladye bright,

And the grene hoUin abune their brie.^

There an Outlaw kepis five hundred men ;

He keepis a royalle cumpanie !
His merryemen are a' in ae liverye clad,

O' the Lincome grene sae gaye to see ;

' Brow.

376 MINSTRELSY OF

He and his ladve in purple clad,
O ! gin they lived not royallie !

Word is gane to our nobil King,

In Edinburgh where that he lay,
That there was an Outlaw in Ettricke Foreste,

Counted him nought, jior a' his courtrie gay.

" I make a vowe," then the gude King said,
" Unto the man that deir bought me,

Fse either be King of Ettricke Foreste,

Or King of Scotlande that Outlaw sail be !" —

Then spake the lord hight Hamilton,^

And to the nobil King said he,
" My sovereign j^rince, sum counsell take,

First at your nobilis, syne at me.

" I redd ye, send yon braw Outlaw till,
And see gif your man cum will he :

Desyre him cum and be your man,
And bald of you yon Foreste frie.

" Gif he refuses to do that,

We'll conquess baith his landis and he !

' Tliis is, in most ropios, tlu> earl liisjljt iramilton, nliirh must
be a mistake of the reciters, as the fainilv did not enjoy that title
tiU 1503.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 377

Or else, we'll throw his castell down,

And make a widowe o' his gaye ladye." —

The King- then call'd a g-entleman,

James Boyd (the Earle of Arran his brother was he ; ')
When James he cam before the King,

He knelit befor him on his kne.

" Wellcum, James Boyd !" said our nobil King,

" A message ye maun gang for me ;
Ye maun hye to Ettricke Foreste,

To yon Outlaw, where bydeth he :

" Ask him of whom he haldis his landis.

Or man, wha may his master be,
And desyre him cum, and be my man

And bald of me yon Foreste frie.

" To Edinburgh to cum and gang,

His safe warrant I sail gie ;
And gif he refuses to do that,

We'll conquess baith his landis and he.

1 Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, was forfeited, with his father
and uncle, in 1469, for an attempt on the person of James III.
He had a son, James, who was restored, and in favour with James
IV. about 1482. If this be the person here meant, we should
read, " The Earl of Arran lois s07i was he." Glenriddel's copy-
reads, " a Highland laird I'm sure was he." Reciters sometimes
call the messenger the Laird of Skene.

378 MINSTRELSY OF

" Thou mayst vow I'll cast his castell down,
And mak a widowe o' his gaye ladye ;

I'll hang his merryemen, payr by payr,
In ony frith where I may them see." —

James Boyd tuik his leave o' the nobil King-,
To Ettricke Foreste feir cam he ;

Down Birkendale Brae when that he cam,
He saw the feir Foreste wi' his ee.^

Baith dae and rae, and harte and hinde,
And of a' wilde bestis great plentie ;

He heard the blows that baiildlv ring,
And arrows whidderan' hym near bi.

Of that feir castell he got a sight ;

The like he neir saw wi' his ee !
On the fore front o' that castell feir,

Twa unicorns were gaye to see ;
The picture of a knight, and ladye bright,

And the grene hoUin abune their brie.

Thereat he spyed five hundred men,
Shuting with bows on Newark Lee ;

They were a' in ae livery clad,

O' the Lincome grene sae gaye to see.

' Riikondalc l?iao, ikhv (•(imiiuinly culled Sirftendailli/, is n steep
(losccut on tlii; south siilu ot' ^Miiicli-iiioor, v*hich sepaiates Tweed-

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 379

Plis men were a' clad in the grene,

The knight was armed capapie,
With a bended bow, on a milk-white steed ;

And I wot they rank'd right bonnilie.

Thereby Boyd kend he was master man,

And served him in his ain degre.
" God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray !

Thy ladye, and all thy chy valrie ! " —
" Marry, thou's wellcum, gentleman.

Some king's messenger thou seemis to be." —

" The King of Scotlonde sent me here,
And, gude Outlaw, I am sent to thee ;

I wad wot of whom ye hald your landis,
Or man, wha may thy master be ?" —

" Thir landis are mine !" the Outlaw said ;

" I ken nae King in Christentie ;
Frae Soudron^ I this Foreste wan,

Wlien the King nor his knightis were not to see." —

" He desyres you'l cum to Edinburgh,

And hauld of him this Foreste fre ;
And, gif ye refuse to do this.

He'll conquess baith thy landis and thee.

dale from Ettrick Forest ; and from the top of whicli we have the
first view of the woods of Hangingshaw, the Castle of Newark, and
the romantic dale of Yarrow.
' Southron, or English.

380 MINSTRELSY OF

He hath vow'd to cast thy castell down,
And mak a widowe o' thy g-aye ladye ;

" He'll hang- thy merryemen, payr by pavr,
In ony frith where he may them finde." —

^' Ay, by my troth !" the Outlaw said,
" Than wauld I thinke me far behinde.

^' Ere the King- my feir countrie get.

This land that's nativest to me !
Mony o' his nobilis sail be cauld,

Their ladyes sail be right wearie."—

Then spak his ladye, feir of face.

She seyd, " Without consent of me,

That an Outlaw suld come befor a King ;
I am right rad^ of treasonrie.

Bid him be gnde to his lordis at hame,
For Edinburgh mv lord sail nevir see." —

James Boyd tuik his leave o' the Outlaw kene.

To Edinburgh boun is he ;
When James he cam before the King,

He knelit lowlie on his kne.

^' Wolcum, James Boyd !" seyd our noliil King ;

" What foreste is Ettricke Foreste frie ?" —
*' Ettricke Foreste is the feirest foreste

That evir man saw wi' his ee.

' Afraid.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 381

" There's the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde.

And of a' wild hestis g-rete plentie ;
There's a pretty castell of lyrae and stane,

O ! g-if it standis not pleasaunthe !

" There's in the fore front o' that castell,
* Twa unicorns, sae bra' to see ;
There's the picture of a knight, and a ladye bright,
Wi' the grene hollin abune their brie.

" There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men,

He keepis a royalle cumpanie !
His merryemen in ae livery clad,

O' the Lincome grene sae gaye to see :
He and his ladye in purple clad ;

O ! gin they live not royallie I

" He says, yon Foreste is his awin ;

He wan it frae the Southronie ;
Sae as he wan it, sae will he keep it,

Contrair all kingis in Christentie." —

" Gar warn me Perthshire, and Angus baith ;

Fife up and downe, and Louthians three,
And graith my horse !" said our nobil King-,

" For to Ettricke Forest hie will I me." —

Then word is gane the Outlaw till.
In Ettricke Forest, where dwelleth he,

382 MINSTRELSY OF

That the King was cuminn: to his cuntrie,
To conquess baith his landis and he.

" I mak a vow," the Ontlaw said,

" I mak a vow, and that truhe,
Were there but three men to tak my pairt.

Yon King's cuming full deir suld be !" —

Then messengers he called forth.

And bade them hie them speedilye —

" Ane of ye gae to Halliday,

The Laird of the Corehead' is he.

" He certain is my sister's son ;

Bid him cum quick and succour me I
The King cums on for Ettricke Foreste,

And landless men we a' will be." —

" What news ? What news ?" said Halliday
" Man, frae thy master unto me ? " —

" Not as ye wad ; seeking your aide ;
The King's his mortal eneniie." —

" Ay, by my troth 1 " said Halliday,

" Even for that it repent eth me ;
For gif he lose feir Ettricke Foreste,

He'll tak feir Moffatdale frae me.

' This is a i)lace at the lioad of :\IolTat-ffator. possc^rMHl of olil
the family of HalUday.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 383

^' ni meet him wi' five hundred men,

And surely mair, if mae may be ;
And before he gets the Foreste feir,

We a' will die on Newark Lee ! " —

The Outlaw call'd a messenger,

And bid him hie him speedilye,
To Andrew Murray of CockpooP —

" That man's a deir cousin to me ;
Desyre him cum, and make me aide.

With a' the power that he may be." —

" It stands me hard," Andrew Murray said,
" Jvidge gif it stand na hard wi' me ;

To enter against a King wi' crown,
And set my landis in jeopardie !

Yet, if I cum not on the day.

Surely at night he sail me see," —

To Sir James Murray of Traquair,'
A message came right speedilye —

' This family were ancestors of the Murrays, Eails of Anuandale ;
but the name of the representative, in the time of James IV., was
WUham, not Andrew. Glenriddel's MS. reads, "the country-
keeper."

^ Before the Barony of Traqualr became the property of the
-Stewarts, it belonged to a family of Murrays, afterwards Murrays
of Black-barony, and ancestors of Lord Ellbank. The old castle
was situated on the Tweed. The lands of Traqualr were forfeited
by WiUielmus de Moravia, previous to 1464 ; for, in that year, a

384 MINSTRELSY OF

" What news ? What news ?" James Murray said,
" Man, frae thy master unto me ?" —

" What neids I tell ? for weel ye ken

The King's his mortal enemie ;
And now he is cuming- to Ettricke Foreste,

And landless men ye a' will be." —

" And, by my trothe," James Murray said,
" Wi' that Outlaw will I live and die ;

The King has gifted my landis lang syne —
It cannot be nae warse wi' me."

The King was cuming thro' Caddon Ford,^
And full five thousand men was he ;

They saw the derke Foreste them before.
They thought it awsome for to see.

charter, proceeding upon his forfeiture, was granted by the crown to
" Willielmo Douglas de Cluny." Sir James was, perhaps, the
heir of William Murray. It would farther seem, that the grant in
1464 was not made effectual by Douglas ; for another charter from
the crown, dated the 3d February, 1478, conveys the estate of
Traquair to James Stewart, Earl of Buchaii, son of the Black
Knight of Lome, and maternal uncle to James III., from whom is
descended the present Earl of Traquair. The first royal grant not
being followed by possession, it is very possible that the Murrays may
have continued to occupy Traquair long after the date of that char-
ter. Hence, Sir James might have reason to say, as in the bal-
lad, " The King has gifted my lands laug syne."

' A ford ou the Tweed, at the mouth of the Caddon Burn, near
Yair.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 385

Then spak the lord, hight Hamilton,

And to the nobil King- said he,
" My sovereign liege, sum council tak,

First at your nobilis, syne at me.

" Desyre him mete thee at Permanscore,

And bring four in his cumpanie ;
Five Erles sail gang yoursell befor,

Gude cause that you suld honour'd be.

" And, gif he refuses to do that,

We'll conquess baith his landis and he ;

There sail nevir a Murray, after him,
Plald land in Ettricke Foreste free." —

Then spak the kene Laird of Buckscleuth,
A stalworthe man, and sterne was he —

" For a King to gang an Outlaw till,
Is beneath his state and his dignitie.

" The man that wons yon Foreste intill,

He lives by reif and felonie !
Wherefore, brayd on, my sovereign liege

Wi' fire and sword we'll follow thee
Or, gif your courtrie lords fa' back,

Our Borderers sail the onset gie." —

Then out and spak the nobil King-
And round him cast a wilic ee —
VOL. I. 2 b

386 MINSTRELSY OF

" Now, had thy tongiie, Sir Walter Scott,

Nor speak of reif nor felonie :
For, had every honest man his awin kve,

A right puir clan thy name wad he ! " —

The King- then call'd a gentleman,
Royal hanner-bearer there was he ;

James Hoppringle of Torsonse, bv name ; ^
He cam and knelit upon his kne.

" Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse !

A message ye maun gang for me :
Ye maun gae to yon Outlaw Murray,

Surely where bauklly bideth he

" Bid him mete me at Permanscore,

And bring four in his cumpanie ;
Five erles sail cum wi' mysell,

Gude reason I suld honour'd be,

" And gif he refuses to do that,
IVu] him hike for nae good o' me !

' The honourable name of Prinj;h', or Ilopprinijle, is of preat
antiquity in Roxburghshire an<I Si-lkirkshire. The old Tower of
Torsonse is situated u])oii the banks of the Gala. I believe the
Pringles of Torsonse are now represented by Sir John Pringle
of Stitchell. There are three other ancient and distinguished
families of this name ; those of Whitcbauk, Clifton, and Tor-
woodlee.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 387

There sail nevir a Murray, after him,
Have land in Ettricke Foreste free."

James cam before the Outlaw kene,
And served him in his ain degre —

« Welcum, James Priqgle of Torsouse !
What message frae the King' to me ?"— .

" He bids ye meet him at Permanscore,^

And bring four in your cumpany ;
Five erles sail gang- himsell befor,

Nae mair in number will he be.

^ Permanscore is a very remarkable hollow on the top of a high
ridge of hills, di^ading the vales of Tweed and Yarrow, a little to
the eastward of j\Iiuch-moor. It is the outermost point of the lands
of Broadmeadows. The Glenriddel IMS., which, in this instance,
is extremely inaccurate as to names, calls the place of rendezvous,
" The Poor Man's House," and hints that the Outlaw was sur-
prised by the treachery of the King :— .

" Then he was aware of the King's coming.

With hundreds three in company,
• I wot the reuckle deel * * » » •

He learned Kingis to lie !
For to fetch me here frae amang my men.

Here, like a dog for to die." "

I beUeve the reader will think with me, that the catastrophe is
better, as now printed from I\Irs Cockburn's copy. The deceit,
supposed to be practised on the Outlaw, is unworthy of the mihtary
monarch, as he is painted in the ballad ; especially if we admit him
to be King James IV.

388

MINSTRELSY OF

" And g-if you refuse to do that,

(I freely here upgive wi' thee,)
He'll cast yon bonny castle down,

And make a widowe o' that gay ladye.

" He'll loose yon bluidhound Borderers,
Wi' fire and sword to follow thee ;

There will nevir a Murray, after thysell,
Have land in Ettrick Foreste free." —

" It stands me hard," the Outlaw said ;

" Judge gif it stands na hard wi' me,
Wha reck not losing of mysell.

But a' my offspring after me.

" My merryemen's lives, my widowe's teirs —
There lies the pang that pinches me ;

"N^Tien I am straught in bluidie eard,
Yon castell will be right dreirie.

" Auld Halliday, young Halliday,

Ye sail be twa to gang wi' me ;
Andrew Murray, and Sir James Murray,

We'll be nae mae in cumpanie." —

When that thoy cam before the King,
They fell before him on their kne —

" Grant mcrcie, mercie, nobil King !
E'en for his sake that d}ed on tree." —

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 389

" Sicken like mercie sail ye have ;

On g-allows ye sail hangit be ! " —
" Over God's forbode," quoth the Outlaw then,

I hope your grace will bettir be !
Else, ere you come to Edinburgh jjort,

I trow thin guarded sail ye be :

" Thir landis of Ettricke Foreste fair,

I wan them from the enemie ;
Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,

Contrair a' kingis in Christentie." —

All the nobills the King- about,

Said pitie it were to see him dee —

" Yet grant me mercie, sovereign prince,
Extend your favour unto me !

" I'll give thee the keys of my castell,

Wi' the blessing o' my gay ladye,
Gin thou'lt make me sheriffe of this Foreste,

And a' my offspring after me." —

" Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell,
Wi' the blessing of thy gaye ladye ?

I'se make thee sherift'e of Ettricke Foreste,
Surely while upward grows the tree ;

If you be not traitour to the King,
Forfaulted sail thou nevir be." — ■

390 MINSTRELSY OF

*' But, Prince, what sail cum o' my men ?

When I g-ae back, traitoiir they'll ca' me.
I had rather lose my life and laud,

Ere my merryemen rebuked me." —

*' Will your merryemen amend their lives ?

And a' their pardons I grant thee —
Now, name thy landis where'er they lie,

And here I render them to thee." —

*' Fair Philiphaugh is mine by right,
And Lewinshope still mine shall be ;

Newark, Foulshiells, and Tinnies baith.
My bow and arrow jHirchased me.

<' And I have native steads to me,
The Newark Lee and Hanginshaw ;*

I have mony steads in the Forest schaw.
But them by name I dinna knaw."

The keys of the castell he gave the King-,
Wi' the blessing o' his feir ladye ;

' In tliis and the follomng verso, the ceremony of feudal inves-
titure is supposed to be gone through, by the Outlaw resigning his
possessions into the hands of the king, and receiving them back, to
ho held of him as superior. The lands of Phili])haugh are still pos-
f^essed by th(! Outlaw's representative. Hangingshaw and Lewins-
hop(! were sold of late years. Newark, Foulshiels, and Tinnies,
have long belonged to the family of Buccloueh.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 391

He was made sheriffe of Ettricke Foreste,

Surely while upward grows the tree ;
And if he was na traitour to the King-,

Forfaulted he suld never be.

Wha ever heard, in ony times,

Sicken an outlaw in his degre,
Sic favour get befor a King,

As did the Outlaw Murray of the Foreste free ?

392 MINSTRELSY OF

JOHNIE ARMSTRANG.

There will be such frequent occasion, in the course
of this work, to mention the clan, or sept, of the Arm-
strongs, that the Editor finds it necessary to prefix to
this ballad some general account of that tribe.

The Armstrongs appear to have been at an earl\-
period in possession of great part of Liddesdale, and of
the Debateable Land. Their immediate neighbour-
hood to England rendered them the most lawless of
the Border depredators ; and as much of the country
possessed by them was claimed by both kingdoms, the
inhabitants, protected from justice by the one nation,
in opposition to the other, securely preyed upon l)oth.'
The chief was Armstrong of Mangertoun ; but, at a
later period, they are declared a broken clan, /. e. one

' In illustration of this position, the rea<ler is ri'tViTi'd to a Inn;;
corrcsijondcnce betwixt Lord Dacre and the Privv Coinicil of Kiiu;-
land, in 1550, concerninjj; one Sandye Armstran^j, a partisan if
England, and an inhabitant of the Debateable Land, who had threat-
ened to become .a Scotti^hIna^, if he \v;us not proteefi'd by the Eng-
lish Warden against the Lord of ^Laxwell — See Tiilroduclimi to
Nicholson and Burns' History of Cumberland and Westmore-
land.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 393

which had no lawful head, to become surety for their
good behaviour. The rapacity of this clan, and of their
allies, theEUiots, occasioned the popular saying-, "Elliots
and Armstrongs ride thieves all." But to what Border
family of note, in former days, would not such an adage
have been equally applicable ? All along the river
Liddel may still be discovered the ruins of towers,
possessed by this numerous clan. They did not, how-
ever, entirely trust to these fastnesses ; but, when at-
tacked by a superior force, abandoned entirely their
dwellings, and retired into morasses, accessible by paths
known to themselves alone. One of their most noted
places of refuge was the Tarras Moss, a desolate and
horrible marsh, through which a small river takes its
course. Upon its banks are found some dry spots,
which were occupied by these outlaws, and their fa-
milies, in cases of emergency. The stream runs furi-
ously among huge rocks, which has occasioned a po-
pular saying —

" Was ne'er ane drown'd in Tarras, nor yet in doubt,

For ere tlie head can win down, the harns [brains] are out."

The morass itself is so deep, that, according to an old
historian, two spears tied together would not reach the
bottom. In this retreat, the Armstrongs, a7ino 1588,
baffled the Earl of Angus, when lieutenant on the
Border, although he reckoned himself so skilful in
winding a thief, that he declared, " he had the same
pleasure in it, as others in hunting a hare." On this

394 MINSTRELSY OF

occasion he was totally nasuccessful, and nearly lost
his relation, Douglas of Ively, whom the freebooters
made prisoner. — Godscroft, vol. ii. p. 411.

Upon another occasion the Armstrongs were less
fortunate. They had, in one of their incursions, plun-
dered the town of Haltwhistle, on the borders of Cum-
berland. Sir Robert Carey, Warden of the West
Marches, demanded satisfaction from the King- of
Scotland, and received for answer, that the offenders
were no subjects of his, and that he mig-ht take his
own reveng-e. The English Warden according-ly en-
tered Liddesdale, and ravaged the lands of the outlaws ;
on which occasion, Si7n of the Cathill (an Armstrong)
was killed by one of the Ridleys of Haltwhistle. This
incident procured Haltwhistle another visit from the
Armstrongs, in which they burnt great part of the
town, but not without losing one of their leaders, by a
shot from a window.

" The death of this young man," says Sir Robert
Carey, "wrote [wrought] so deep an impression upon
them [the outlaws], as many vowes were made, that
before the end of next winter, they would lay the ^^'hole
Border waste. This [the murder] was done about the
end of May [1598.] The chiefe of all these outlaws
was old Sim of Whitram} He had five or six sonncs,

^ Wliitiain is a place in LiddesilalL'. It is niistakcn by tl\o uoble
editor for Wliithern, in Galloway, as is Ilartwesscl (Hidtwliistlo,
on tlie borders of Cumberland) for Twisel, a village on the Eng-
lish side of the Tweed, near Wark.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 395

as able men as the Borders had. This old man and
his sonnes had not so few as two hundred at their
commands, that were ever ready to ride with them to
all actions, at their beck.

" The high parts of the marsh [march] towards
Scotlande were put in a mighty fear, and the chiefe of
them, for themselves and the rest, petitioned to mee,
and did assure mee, that unless I did take some course
with them by the end of that summer, there was none
of the inhabitants durst, or would, stay in their dwell-
ings the next winter, but they would fley the countrey,
and leave their houses and lands to the fury of the
outlawes. Upon this complaint, I called the gentle-
men of the countrey tog-ether, and acquainted them
with the misery that the highest parts of the marsh
towards Scotland were likely to endure, if there were
not timely prevention to avoid it, and desired them to
give mee their best advice what course were fitt to be
taken. They all showed themselves willing to give
mee their best counsailes, and most of them were of
opinion, that I was not well advised to refuse the hun-
dred horse that my Lord Euers ^ had ; and that now my
best way was speedily to acquaint the Queue and
counsaiUe with the necessity of having more soldiers,
and that there should not be less than a hundred horse
sent down for the defence of the countrey, besides the
forty I had already in pay, and that there was nothing
but force of soldiers could keep them in awe ; and to

' [See the Ballad of Lord Ewrie, p. 417.]

396 MINSTRELSY OF

let the counsaile plainly understand, that the marsh, nt'
themselves, were not ahle to subsist, whenever the a\ in-
ter and long nig-hts came in, unlesse present cure aiul
remedy were provided for them. I desired them to ad-
vise better of it, and see if they could find out any
other means to prevent their mischievous intentions,
without putting- the Queue and countrey to any fur-
ther charge. They all resolved that there was no second
meanes. Then I told them my intention what I meant
to do, which was, that myself, with two deputies, and
the forty horse that I was allowed, would, with what
speed we could, make ourselves ready to g-o up to tlie
Wastes, and there wee would entrench ourselves, and
lye as near as we could to the outlawes : and if there
were any brave spirits among- them that would go with
us, they should be very wellcome, and fare and he
as well as myselfe : and I did not doubt, before the
summer ended, to do something- that should abate the
pride of these outlawes. Those that were unwilling to
hazard themselves, liked not tliis motion. They said,
that, ill so doing, I might keep the country quiet the
time I lay there, Init, when the winter approached, I
could stay there no long-er, and that was the theeves'
time to do all their mischiefe. But there were divers
young- gentlemen that offered to go with mee, some,
with three, some with four horses, and to stay with mee
as long- as I would there continue. I took a list of those
that offered to go with mee, and found, that, \\ith my-
self, mv officers, the gentlemen, and our servants, wee

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 397

should be aliout two hundred good men and horse ; a
competent number, as I thought, for such a service.

" The day and place was appointed for our meeting
in the Wastes, and, by the help of the Foot of Liddis-
dale^ and Risdale, wee had soone built a pretty fort,
and within it we had all cabines made to lye in, and
every one brought beds or mattresses to lye on. There
wee stayed from the middest of June, till almost the
end of August. We were betweene fifty and sixty
gentlemen, besides their servants and my horsemen ; so
that we were not so few as two hundred horse. Wee
wanted no provisions for ourselves nor our horses, for
the countrey people were well paid for any thing they
brought us ; so that wee had a good market every day,
before our fort, to buy what we lacked. The chiefe
outlawes, at our coming, fled their houses where they
dwelt, and betooke themselves to a large and great
forest (with all their goodes,) Mhich was called the
Tarras. It was of that strength, and so surrounded
with bogges and marish grounds, and thicke bushes and
shrubbes, as they feared not the force nor power of
England nor Scotland, so long as they were there. They
sent me word, that I was like the first puffe of a hag-
gasse,^ hottest at the first, and bade me stay there as

' The Foot of Liddesdale was the garrison of King James in the
Castle of Hermitage, who assisted Carey on this occasion, as the
Armstrongs were outlaws to both nations.

^ A haggis (according to Burns, " the chieftain of the pudding
race") is an oho, composed of the liver, heart, &c. of a sheep,

398 MINSTRELSY OF

long' as the weather would g-ive me leave. Thev would
stay in the Tarras Wood till I was weary of lying in
the Waste : and when I had had my time, and they no
whit the worse, they would play their parts, which
should keep me waking the next winter. Those gen-
tlemen of the country that came not with mee, were
of the same minde ; for they knew (or thought at least)
that my force was not sufficient to withstand the furey
of the outlawes. The time I staid at the fort I was
not idle, but cast, hy all means I could, how to take
them in the great strength they were in. I found a
meanes to send a hundred and fiftv horsemen into Scot-
land (conveighed by a muffled man,^ not known to one
of the company,) thirty miles within Scotland, and the
businesse was carried so, that none in the countrey
tooke any alarm at this passage. They were quietly
brought to the backside of the Tarras, to Scotland-
ward. There they divided themselves into three parts,
and took up three passages which the outlawes made
themselves secure of, if from England side they should
at any time l)e put at. Thev had their scoutes on the
tops of hills, on the English side, to give them warn-

minccd down ivith oatnie:i], onions, and spicos, juid boilod in the
stomach of the anianal, by way of baj;. AVhen this has; is cut, the
contents (if this savoury dish ho well made) should spout out with
the heated air. This will explain the allusion.

' A Muffled Man means a person iu disguise ; a very necessary
precaution for the guide's safety ; for, could the outlawes have
learned who playud thum this trick, beyond all doubt it must have
cost hiui dear.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 399

ing if at any time any power of men should come
to surprise them. The three ambushes were safely
laid, without being discovered, and, about four o'clock
in the morning, there were three hundred horse, and
a thousand foot,^ that came directly to the place where
the scoutes lay. They gave the alarm ; our men brake
down as fast as they could into the wood. The out-
lawes thought themselves safe, assuring themselves at
any time to escape ; but they were so strongly set upon,
on the English side, as they were forced to leave their
goodes, and betake themselves to their passages towards
Scotland. There was presently five taken of the prin-
cipal of them. The rest, seeing themselves, as they
thought, betrayed, retired into the thicke woodes and
bogges," that our men durst not follow them, for fear
of loosing themselves. The principall of the five that
were taken, were two of the eldest sonnes of Sim of
Whitram. These five they brought to mee to the fort,
and a number of goodes, both of sheep^and kine, which
satisfied most part of the country that they had stolen
them from.

^ From this it would appear, that Carey, although his constant
attendants in his fort consisted only of 200 horse, had upon this
occasion, by the assistance, probably, of the Enghsh and Scottish
royal garrisons, collected a much greater force.

^ There are now no trees in Liddesdale, except on the banks of
the rivers, where they are protected from the sheep. But the
stumps and fallen timber, which are everywhere found in the
morasses, attest how well the country must have been wooded in
former days.

400 MINSTRELSY OF

'< The five, that were taken, were of great worth and
vahie amongst them ; insomuch, that for their Hberty,
I should have what conditions I should demand or de-
sire. First, all English prisoners were set at liberty.
Then had I themselves, and most part of the gentle-
men of the Scottish side, so strictly bound in bondes
to enter to mee, in fifteen dayes warning, any offend-
our, that they durst not for their lives break any cove-
nant that I made with them ; and so, upon these con-
ditions, I set them at liberty, and was never after trou-
bled with these kind of people. Thus God blessed me
in bringing tliis great trouble to so quiet an end ; wee
brake up our fort, and every man retired to his own
house." — Carey's Memoirs, p. 151.

The people of Liddesdale have retained, by tradition,
the remembrance of Carey s Raid, as they call it.
They tell, that while he was besieging the outlaws in
the Tarras, they contrived, by ways known only to
themselves, to send a party into England, who plun-
dered the Warden's lands. On their return, they sent
Carey one of his own cows, telling him, that, fearing
he might fall short of provision during his visit to Scot-
land, they had taken the precaution of sending him
some English beef. The anecdote is too characteristic
to 1)6 suppressed.

From this narrative, the power and strength of the
Armstrongs, at this late period, appear to have been
very considerable. Even upon the death of Queen
Elizabeth, this clan, associated with other bantlitti of

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 401

file West Marches, to the number of two or three hun-
dred horse, entered Eng-land in a hostile manner, and ex-
tended their ravages as far as Penrith. James VI., then
at Berwick, upon his journey to his new capital, detached
a large force, under Sir William Selby, captain of Ber-
wick, to bring these depredators to order. Their raid,
remarkable for being the last of any note occurring in
history, was avenged in an exemplary manner. Most of
the strongholds upon the liddel were razed to the foun-
dation, and several of the principal leaders were execu-
ted at Carlisle ; after which we find little mention of
the Armstrongs in history. The precautions adopted
by the Earl of Dunbar to preserve peace on the Bor-
ders, bore peculiarly hard upon a body of men long ac-
customed to the most ungoverned license. They appear,
in a great measure, to have fallen victims to the strict-
ness of the new enactments — Ridpath, p. 703

Stow, 819. — Laing, vol. i. The lands, possessed by
them in former days, have chiefly come into the hands
of the Buccleuch family, and of the EUiots ; so that,
with one or two exceptions, we may say, that in the
country which this warlike clan once occupied, ther^ is
I hardly left a landholder of the name.

One of the last V>oxAQvr elvers was, however, of this
family, and lived within the beginning of the last cen-
tury. After having made himself dreaded over the
whole co^intry, he at last came to the following end : —

One , a man of large property, having lost twelve

cows in one night, raised the country of Teviotdale, and

VOL. I. 2 c

402 MINSTUELSY OF

traced the robbers into Liddesdale, as far as the house of
this Armstrong, commonly called Willie ofWestburn-
Jiat, from the place of his residence, on the banks of the
Hermitage water. Fortunately for the pursuers, he
was then asleep ; so that he was secured, along with
nine of his friends, Avithout much resistance. He was
brought to trial at Selkirk ; and, although no precise
evidence was adduced to convict him of the special
fact, (the cattle never having been recovered,) yet the
jury brought him in guilty on his general character, or,
as it is called in our law, on habit and repute. When
sentence was pronounced, Willie arose ; and, seizing
the oaken chair in which he was placed, broke it into
pieces by main strength, and offered to his companions,
who were involved in the same doom, that, if they
would stand behind him, he would light his way out ol'
Selkirk with these weapons. But they held his hands,
and besought him to let them die like Christians. Tlu\
were accordingly executed in form of law. This im i-
dent is said to have hujjponed at the last Circuit Comt
held at Selkirk. The people of Liddesdale, mIio (per-
haps not erroneously) still consider the sentence as ini-
quitous, remarked, that , the jirosecutor, never

throve afterwards, but canic to bcguarv and niin. willi
his whole faniilv.

Johnie Armstrong, of Ciiliu)ckie, the hero of the fol-
lowing l)allad, is a noted personage, Itoth in history and
tradition. He was, it T\(>uld seem from the ballad, a
brother of the Laird of Mangertoun, chief of the nanu-.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 403

His place of residence (now a roofless tower) was at
the Hollows, a few miles from Langholm, where its ruins
still serve to adorn a scene, which, in natural beauty,
has few equals in Scotland, At the head of a desperate
band of freebooters, this Armstrong' is said to have
spread the terror of his name almost as far as New-
castle, and to have levied black-mail, or protection and
forbearance money, for many miles round. James V.^.
of whom it was long- remembered by his g-rateful peo-
ple that he made the " rush-bush keep the cow," about
1529, undertook an expedition throug-h the Border
counties, to suppress the turbulent spirit of the March-
men. But before setting- out upon his journey, he
took the precaution of imprisoning the diiferent Bor-
der chieftains, who were the chief protectors of the
marauders. The Earl of Bothwell was forfeited, and
confined in Edinburgh Castle. The Lords of Home
and Maxwell, the Lairds of Buccleuch, Fairniherst,
and Johnston, with many others, were also committed
to ward. Cockburn of Henderland, and Adam Scott
of Tushielaw, called the King of the Border, were pub-
licly executed. — Lesley, p. 430. The King then
marched rapidly forward, at the head of a flying- army
of ten thousand men, through Ettrick Forest and Ews-
dale. The evil genius of our Johnie Armstrong, or, as
others say, the private advice of some courtiers, prompt-
ed him to present himself before James, at the head of
thirty-six horse, arrayed in all the pomp of Border
chivalry. Pitscottie uses nearly the words of the bal-

404 MINSTRELSY OF

lad, in describing- the splendour of his equipment, and
his hig-h expectations of favour from the King-. " But
James, looking- upon him sternly, said to his attend-
ants, ' WTiat wants that knave that a king- should
have ? ' and ordered him and his followers to instant
execution." — " But John Armstrong-," continues this
minute historian, " made great oflers to the King^. That
he should sustain himself, with forty gentlemen, ever
ready at his service, on their own cost, without wrong--
ing- any Scottishman : Secondly, that there was not a
subject in Eng-land, duke, earl, or baron, but, within a
certain day, he should bring- him to his majestv, either
quick or dead.^ At length, he seeing no hope of favour,
said very proudly, ' It is foUy to seek grace at a grace-

' The Borderers, from their habits of life, were capable of most
extraordinary exploits of this nature. In the year 151 1, Sir Robert
Ker of Cessford, Warden of the JNIiddle IMarches of Scotland, was
murdered at a Border meeting, by the bastard Heron, Sturhead,
and Lilburn. The English monarch deUvered up Lilburn to jus-
tice in Scotland, but Heron and Starhead escaped. The latter
chose his residence in the very centre of England, to baffle tho
vengeance of Ker's clan and followers. Two dependents of thl^
deceased, called Tait, were deputed by Andrew Ker of Cessford ti>
revenge his father's murder. They travelled through England in
various disguises, till they discovered the nlace of Starhead's retreat,
murdered him in his bed, and brought his head in triumph to Edin-
burgh, where Ker caused it to be c.vposed at the Cross. The b.i--
tard Heron would have shared the same fate, had he not spr
abroad a report of his having died of the plague, and caused hi^

neral obsequies to be performed Ridpath's History, p. 481

See also Mctriail Account of the Battle of Flodden, published by
the Rev. Mr La^ibe.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 405

less face ; but,' said he, ^ had I known this, I should
have lived upon the Borders in despite of King Harry
and you both ; for I know King Harry would doivn-
weigh my best horse with gold, to know that I were
condemned to die this day." — Pitscottie's History,
p. 145. Johnie and all his retinue were accordingly
hanged upon growing trees, at a place called Carlenrig
Chapel, about ten miles above Hawick, on the high
road to Langholm. The country people beheve, that,
to manifest the injustice of the execution, the trees
withered away. Armstrong and his followers were
buried in a desei'ted churchyard, where their graves are
stiU shown.

As this Border hero was a person of great note in
his M'ay, he is frequently alluded to by the writers of
the time. Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, in the
curious play published by Mr Pinkerton, from the Ban-
natyne MS., introduces a pardoner, or knavish dealer
in relics, who produces, among his holy rarities —

" The cordis, baith grit and lang,

Qiihilk hangit Johnie Armistrang,

Of gude hempt, soft and sound.

Gude haly pepil, I stand ford,

Wha'evir beis hangit in this cord,

Neidis never to be drowned ! "
Pinkzrton's Scottish Poems, vol. ii. p. G9.

In Tlie Complaynt of Scotland, John Armistrangis*

406 MINSTRELSY OF

(lance, mentioned as a jjopular tune, has probably souu'
reference to our hero.

The common people of the high parts of Teviotdali',
Liddesdale, and the country adjacent, hold the me-
mory of Johnie Armstrong- in very high respect. Tlu'\-
affirm also, that one of his attendants broke through
the King's guard, and carried to Gilnockie Tower the
news of the bloody catastrophe.

This song was first published by Allan Ramsav, in
his Evergreen, who says, he copied it from the mouth
of a gentleman, called Armstrong, who was in the sixth
generation from this John. The reciter assured him,
that this was the genuine old ballad, the common one
false. By the common one, Ramsay means an English
l)allad ujjon the same subject, but differing in various
particulars, which is puldished in INlr llitson's English
Songs, vol. ii. It is fortunate for the admirers of the
old ballad, that it did not fall into Ramsay's liands when
he was equipping with new sets of words the old Scot-
tish tunes in his Tea -Table Miscellanij. Since his time
it has been often reprinted.

JOHNIE ARMSTRONG.

PIANO
FORTE.

Some spieks of lords, some spiek;

P^^

z^zit ^- •" ^: -#:

^g

1^:

o

#

i

^^S^

IZX

'■^-^^-i^

lairds, And sic like men of high de---

g=3=t

1=4

^3=4

-=^^^1

m

k=*s

^-itttt?

jj=i^#

Johnie Armstrong.

JOHNIE ARMSTRONG, CONTINUED.

i

^-

^^S

a — a

*^it^-i7*-

gree, Of a gen --tie

I sinj; a

^■ffH="

]3?

r^^"

gs^^^^^

sang, Some time called laird of Gil --hoc-

-•- li: i T^qa: S t

ffPf

IE!E?EE^J5E^^EHS

Juliiiio Arni:;?n)iig.

JOHN IE ARMSTRONG, CONTINUED,

^3lDC:^t^

kie. The King has written a icind let

rllrlROtntea

m

m

I

m

fe;i

^^^

B^3a

^f=^

E^

■ ter, With his ain hand, sae ten - ■ der

rs

m

i

m

b d ' I p— f=

Juhnie Armstrong.

JOHNIE ARMSTRONG, CONTINUED.

?P=P

P

m

)^—<^

• - - lie. And he has sect it to

SHE^^E^ae

^

HJ

t=t

1^

S

31t

Fsftr^^^^fg^

Jolin - • • ie Ami • - strnnc, To

t=i--

E^S:

^^M

-r=F=F=

as

i

t:3=t=i

Jn)mie Annttronf;.

JOHNIE ARMSTRONG, CONTINUED.

%^im\sii

speak with him speed - - - i - • . - lie.

E^

^^

J^=J=H

]^

Johnie Armslioiig.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 407

JOHNIE ARMSTRANG.

Sum speikis of lords, sum speikis of lairJs,
And sick lyke men of hie degrie ;

Of a gentleman I sing a sang,

Slim tyme called Laird of Gilnockie.

The King he wrytes a hiving letter,
With his ain hand sae tenderly.

And he hath sent it to Johnie Armstrang,
To cum and speik with him speedily.

The Eliots and Armstrangs did convene ;

They were a gallant cumpanie —
" We'll ride and meit our lawful King,

And hring him safe to Gilnockie.

" Make kinnen^ and capon ready, then,
And venison in great plentie ;

We'll wellcum here our royal King ;
I hope he'll dine at Gilnockie !" —

^ Kinnen — Rabbits.

408 MINSTRELS y OF

They ran their horse on the Langholme ho^i".!!,
And brak their spears wi' mickle main ;

The ladies hikit frae their loft windows —
" God bring- our men weel hame agen !"

Wlien Johnie cam before the King,

Wi' a' his men sae brave to see,
The King he movit his bonnet to him ;

He ween'd he was a King as weel as he.

" May I find grace, my sovereign liege,
Grace for my loyal men and me ?

For my name it is Johnie Armstrang,

And a subject of yours, my liege," said he.

" Away, away, thou traitor Strang !

Out o' my sight soon mayst thou be !
I grantit never a traitor's life,

And now I'll not begin wi' thee." —

" Grant me my life, my liege, my King !

And a bonny gift I'll gie to thee —
Full four-and-twenty milk-white steids,

Were a' foal'd in ae yeir to me.

*' I'll gie thee a' these milk-white steid?,
That prance and nicker^ at a speir ;

' Nic/ccr — Nuigli,

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 409

And as mickle g-ude Ingiish gilt/

As four o' their braid backs dow" bear." —

" Away, away, thou traitor Strang !

Out o' my sig'ht soon mayst thou be !
I grautit never a traitor's life,

And now I'll not begin wi' thee !" —

" Grant me my life, my liege, my King !

And a bonny gift I'll gie to thee —
Gude four-and-twenty ganging-^ mills,

That gang thro' a' the yeir to me.

" These four-and-twenty mills complete

Sail gang for thee thro' a' the yeir ;
And as mickle of gude reid wheit.

As a' thair happers dow to bear." —

" Away, away, thou traitor Strang !

Out o' my sight soon mayst thou be !
I grantit never a traitor's life,

And now I'll not begin wi' thee." —

" Grant me my life, my liege, my King !

And a great great gift I'll gie to thee —
Bauld four-and-twenty sisters' sons.

Sail for thee fecht, tho' a' should flee ! " —

' Gilt — Gold — ^ Dow — Are able to. — ^ Ganging — Going.

410 MINSTRELSY OF

" Away, away, thou traitor Strang !

Out o' my sight soon mayst thou be !
I grantit never a traitor's life,

And now I'll not begin wi' thee." —

" Grant me my life, my liege, my King !

And a brave gift I'll gie to thee —
Ail between heir and Newcastle town

Sail pay their yeirly rent to thee."—

" Away, away, thou traitor Strang !

Out o' my sight soon mayst thou be !
I grantit never a traitor's life.

And now I'll not begin wi' thee." —

" Ye lied, ye lied, now, King," he says,

" Altho' a King and Prince ye be !
For I've luved naething in my life,

I weel dare say it, but honesty —

" Save a fat horse, and a fair woman,

T«a lionny dogs to kill a deir ;
But England suld have found me meal and mauh,

Gif I had lived this hundred yeir !^

" She suld have found me meal and mault,
And beef and mutton in a' plentie ;

' [" If this collection had no other merit than that of preserving

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 411

But never a Scots wyfe could have said,
That e'er I skaith'd her a puir flee.

" To seik het water beneith cauld ice,

Surely it is a greit folie —
I have asked grace at a graceless face,

But there is nane for my men and me !^

" But had I kenn'd ere I cam frae hame,
How thou unkmd wadst been to me !

I wad have keepit the Border side,
In spite of all thy force and thee.

" Wist England's King that I was ta'en,
O gin a blythe man he wad be !

the memorials of manners tliat can never return, it would be en-
titled to considerable praise. Subsisting by rapine, which they
accounted lawful and honourable, they blotted honesty out of the
list of their virtues, at the same time that they were trained, by
their perilous expeditions, to a high degree of enterprising courage,
activity, and finesse. The insecurity of their possessions made
them free and hospitable in their expemhture ; and the common
danger bound the several clans together by assurances of inviolable
fidelity, and even softened their mutual hostility, by the tacit in-
troduction of certain laws of honour and of war. In these traits,
we seem to be reading the description of a Tartarian or Arabic
tribe, and can scarcely persuade ourselves that this country con-
tained, within these two centuries, so exact a prototype of the
Bedouin character." — Edinburgh Review (Sir John Stoddart) for
February 1803.]

' [This and the three preceding stanzas were among those that
Sir Walter Scott most delighted to quote Ed.]

412 MINSTRELSY OF

For anes I slew bis sister's son,

And on his breist bane brak a trie." —

Jobn wore a girdle about bis middle,
Imbroider'd ower wi' burning gold,

Bespangled wi' the same metal,
Maist beautiful was to behold.

There hang nine targats^ at Johnie's hat.

And ilk ane worth three hundred pound —
" "What wants that knave that a King suld have,

But the sword of honour and the crown ?

" O where got thou these targats, Jolinie,

That blink" sae brawly abune thy brie ?" —
" I gat them in the field fechting.

" Had I my horse, and harness gude,

And riding as I wont to be.
It suld have been tauld this hundred yeir.

The meeting of my King and me !

" God be with thee, Kirsty,^ my brother,
Lang live thou Laird of Mangertoun !

Lang mayst thou live on the Border syde,
Ere thou see thy brother ride up and down !

Tarrjuts — Tassels * Blinli sne hraulie—Ghncc so bravely.

^ Cliristoplicr.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 413

" And God be with thee, Khsty, my son,
Where thou sits on thy nurse's knee !

But an thou live this hundred yeir.
Thy father's better thou'lt never be.

" Farewell ! my bonny Gilnock hall,
Where on Esk side thou standest stout !

Gif I had lived but seven yeirs mair,
I wad hae gilt thee round about."

John murder'd was at Carlinrigg-,
And all his gallant companie ;
But Scotland's heart was ne'er sae wae,
To see sae mony brave men die —

Because they saved their country deir
Frae Englishmen ! Nane were sa bauld,

Whyle Johnie lived on the Border syde,
Nane of them durst cum neir his hauld.

414 MINSTRELSY OF

SUPPLEMENT

BALLAD OF JOHNIE ARMSTRANG.

The Editor believes his readers will not be displeased to see a
Bond of Manrent, granted by this Border freebooter to the Scottish
Warden of the West IMarches, in return for the gift of a feudal
casualty of certain lands particularized. It is extracted from Si/im's
Collection of Old Writings, MS., penes Dr Robert Anderson, of
Edinburgh.

BOND OF MANRENT.

Be it kend till all men, be thir present letters, me, Johne
Armistrang, for to be bound and oblist, and be the tenor of thir
present letters, and faith and trewth in my body, lelie and trewlie,
bindis and oblissis me and myn airis, to ane nobil and michtie lord,
Robert Lord Maxwell, Wardane of the West IMarches of Scot-
land, that, forasmikle as my said lord has given and grantit to
me, and mine airs perpetuallie, the non-entries of all and haill
the landis underwritten, that is to say, the landis of Dalbetht,
Shield, Dalblane, Stapil-Gortown, Langholme, and * * • * * *,
with their pertindis, lyand in the lordship of Eskdale, as his gift
maid to me, thereupon beris in the self : and that for all the tynu?
of the nonentres of the samyn. Theirfor, I, the said Johnnc
Armistrang, bindis and oblissis me and myne airis, in manrent and
service to the said Robert Lord Maxwell and his airis, for evormnii ,
first and before all uthirs, myne allegiance to our soverane lord the
King, aUanerly except ; and to be trowe, gude, and lele servant to

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 415

my said lord, and be ready to do lilm service, baitli in peee and
weir, with all my kyn, friends, and servantes, that I may and dowe
to raise, and beand to my said lord's airis for evermair. And sail
tak his true and plane part in all maner of actions at myn outer
power, and sail nouther wit, hear, nor se my said lordis skaith, lak,
nor dlshonestie, but we sail stop and lett the samyn, and geif we dowe
not lett the samyn, we sail warn him thereof in all possible haist ; and
geif it happenis me, the said Johne Armistrang, or myne airis, to fail
in our said service and manrent, any manner of way, to our said
lord, (as God forbid we do,) than, and in that caiss, the gift and
nonentres maid be him to us, of the said landis of Dalbetht, Sehleld,
Dalblane, Stapil-Gortown, Langholme, and *****», with the
pertinentis, to be of no avale, force, nor effect ; but the said lord
and his airis to have free regress and ingress to the nonentres of
the samyn, but ony pley or impediment. To the keeping and ful-
fiUing of all and sundry the premisses, in form above writtin, I bind
and obliss me and my airis foresaids, to the said lord and his airis
for evermare, be the faithis treuthis in our bodies, but fraud or gile.
In witness of the whilk thing, to thir letters of manrent subscrievit,
with my hand at the pen, my sele is hangin, at Dumfries, the se-
cuud day of November, the yeir of God, MD. and XXV. yeiris.
Johne Armistrang, with my hand
at the pen.

The lands, here mentioned, were the possessions of Armstrong
himself, the investitures of which not having been regularly re-
newed, the feudal casualty of non-entry had been incurred by the
vassal. The brother of Joline Armstrong is said to have founded,
or rather repaired, Langholm castle, before which, as mentioned in
the ballad, verse 5th, they "ran their horse," and " br.ik their
spears," in the exercise of Border chivalry Account of the Pa-
rish of Langholm, apud Macfarlane s MSS. The lands of Lang-
holm and Staplegorton continued in Armstrong's family ; for there
is in the same MS. collection a similar bond of manrent, granted
by " Cristofer Armstrang, calit Johne's Pope," on 24th January,
1557, to Lord Johne Lord JMaxwell, and to Sir Johne Maxwell of
Terreglis, Knight, his tutor and governor, in return for the gift

416 MINSTRELSY OF

' ' of tlie males of all and liaill tlie landis wLilk are conteint in ane
bond made by umquhile Jolme Armistrang, my father, to umquUle
Robert, Lord IMax-n-ell, gudsliore to tlie said Jolme, now Lord
Maxwell." It would therefore appear, that tlie bond of manrent,
granted by John Armstrong, had been the price of his release from
the feudal penalty arising from his having neglected to procure a
regular investiture from his superior. As Johne only touched the
pen, it appears that he could not write.

Christopher Armstrong, above mentioned, is the person alluded
to in the conclusion of the ballad — " God be with thee, Kirsty,
my son. " He was the father, or grandfather, of William Arm-
strong, called Christie's JVill, a renowned freebooter, some of
whose exploits the reader will find recorded in another volume of
this work.

Mr Ellis of Otterbourne has kindly pointed out the following in-
stance of the ferocity of the Armstrongs, which occurs in the con-
fession of one John Weir, a prisoner in the tolbooth of Edinburgh,
under sentence of death, in 1700: "In May, 1700, John Weire
went to Grandee Kno vs, (near Haltwhistle, in Northumberland, )
to the mother of the four brethren the Armstrongs, which Arm-
strongs, and the afortsaid Burley, did cut the tongue and ear out of
William Turner, for informing that they were bad persons, which
Turner wrote with his blood that they had used him so." — Weirc
also mentions one Thomas Armstrong, called Luck i' the Bagg,
who lived in Cumberland. The extent of their depredations in
Lorse-stealing seems to have been astonisliir g.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 417

LORD EWRIE.

Sir Ralph EvRE,orEwrie, or Evers, commemorated
in the following lines, was one of the bravest men of a
military race. He was son of the first, and father of
the second Lord Ewrie ; and was himself created a
Lord of Parliament during- his father's lifetime, in the
35th year of Henry VHI. The ballad is apparently a
strain of gratulation upon that event. The poet, or
more probably the reciter, has made some confusion in
the lineage, by declaring that his hero was " married
upon a Willoughbe." His mother, however, was of
that family, and he was " kin to the Nevil and to the
Percy." He was ennobled by Henry, on account of the
vigour with which he prosecuted the Border warfare.
But after " harrying the Mers and Tiviotdale, and
knocking at Edinburgh gate," Lord Ewrie was slain
in the battle of Ancram Moor, fought between him and
the Earl of Angus, in 1546.^ See Note to the Eve of
St John, — post.

' [He was buried in Melrose Abbey, and his stone coffin may still
be seen there — a little to the left of the Great Altar Ed.]

VOL. I. 2d

418 MINSTRELSY OF

This song was written down by my obliging friend,
Richard Surtees, Esq. of Mainsforth/ from the recita-
tion of Rose Smith, of Bishop Middleham, a woman
aged upwards of ninety-one, whose husband's father
and two brothers were killed in the aifair of 1715.

' [The author of the history of Durham Ed.]

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 419

LORD EWRIE.

Lord Ewrie was as brave a man
As ever stood in his degree ;

The King has sent him a broad letter,
All for his courage and loyalty.^

Lord Ewrie is of gentill blode,
A knighte's son sooth to say ;

He is kin to the Nevill and to the Percy,
And is married upon a Willowbe.

A noble Knight him trained upp,

Sir Rafe Bulmer is the man I mean ; '

At Flodden field, as men do say.
No better capten there was seen.

' Patent letters of nobility.

^ Sir William Bulmer, of Burnspetli Castle, who is here said to
have commanded the troops raised in the Bishopric, in the battle
of Floddenfield, was descended from an ancient, and, at one period,
noble family. The last who was summoned to ParUament as a
Peer of the realm, was Ralph, from 1st till 23d Edward III. Sir

420 MINSTRELSY OF

He led the men of Bishopricke,

When Thomas Ruthal bore the sway :

Though the Scottish Habs^ were stout and true,
The Enghsh bowmen wan that day.

And since he has kepte Berwick upon Tweed,
The town was never better kept I wot ;

He maintained leal and order along- the Border,
And still was ready to prick the Scot.

The country then lay in great peace,

And grain and grass was sown and won ;

Then plenty fiU'd the market crosse,
When Lord Ewrie kept Berwick town.

With our Queene's brother he hath been,"

And rode rough shod through Scotland of late :

They have burn'd the Mers and Tiviotdale,
And knocked full loud at Edinburgh gate.

William routed the Borderers, who, under the command of Lord
Home, made an excursion into Northumberland, previous to the
battle of Flodden. He is mentioned in the IMetrical History of the
Battle, V. 105, &c. In the present ballad, he is erroneously deno-
minated Sir Ralph Bulnier.

' [-Hafts— i. e. halberts ; spears.]

- The Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset, and bro-
ther of Queen Jane Seymour, made a furious incursion into Scot-
land, in 1545. See Introduction.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 421

Now the King- hath sent him a broad letter,

A Lord of Parliament to be :
It were well if every nobleman

Stood like Lord Ewrie in his degree.

422 MINSTRELSY OF

THE LOCHMABEN HARPER.

NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. [1802.]

The Castle of Lochmaben was formerly a noble buildmg, situ-
ated upon a peninsula, projecting into one of tlie four lakes
which are in the neighbourhood of the royal burgh, and is
said to have been the residence of Robert Bruce, while Lord
of Annandale. Accordingly it luas always held to be a royal
fortress, the keeping of tvhich, according to the custom of
the times, was granted to some powerful lord, tvith an allot-
ment of lands and fishings, for the defence and maintenajwe
of tJie place. There is extant a grant, dated \%th March,
1511, to Robei-t Lauder of the Bass, of tJie office of Cap-
tain and keeper of Lochmaben Castle, for seven years, tvitli
many perquisites. Among others, the " lands stolen frae
the King," are bestowed on the Captain, as his proper lands.
WJiat .shall we say of a country, where the very ground was
a subject of theft ?

O HEARD ye na o' the silly blind Harper,
How long he lived in Lochmaben town ?

And how he wad gang- to fair England,

To steal the Lord Warden's Wanton Brown

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 423

But first he gaed to his g-ude wyfe,

Wi' a the haste that he could thole — ^

" This wark," quo' he, " will ne'er gae weel,
Without a mare that has a foal." —

Quo' she — " Thou hast a g-ude gray mare,
That can baith lance o'er laigh and hie ;

Sae set thee on the gray mare's back,
And leave the foal at hame wi' me." —

So he is up to England gane,

And even as fast as he may drie ; ^
And when he cam to Carlisle gate,

O whae was there but the Warden hie ?

" Come into my hall, thou sUly blind Harper,
And of thy harping let me hear ! " —

" O, by my sooth/' quo' the sUly blind Harper,
" I wad rather hae stabling for my mare." —

The. Warden look'd ower his left shoulder.

And said unto his stable groom —
" Gae take the silly blind Harper's mare.

And tie her beside my Wanton Brown."

Then aye he harped, and aye he carped, ^
Till a' the lordhngs footed the floor ;

' SuflFer. — ^ Endure.—' Sung.

424 MINSTRELSY OF

But an the music was sae sweet,

The groom had nae mind o' the stable door.

And aye he harped, and aye he carped,
Till a' the nobles were fast asleep ;

Then quickly he took afF his shoon,
And saftly down the stair did creep.

Syne to the stable door he hied,

Wi' tread as light as light could be ;

And when he open'd and gaed in,

There he fand thirty steeds and three.

He took a cowt halter^ frae his hose,
And o' his purpose he didna fail ;

He slipt it ower the Wanton's nose,
And tied it to his gray mare's tail.

He turn'd them loose at the castle gate,
Ower muir and moss and ilka dale ;

And she ne'er let the Wanton bait,

But kept him a-galloping hame to her foal.

The mare she was right swift o' foot,

She didna fail to find the way ;
For she was at Lochmaben gate

A lang three hours before the day.

' Cojvt halicr~Co\t\ halter.

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 425

When she came to the Harper's door,

There she g-ave mony a nicker and sneer ^ —

" Rise up," quo' the wife, " thou lazy lass ;
Let in thy master and his mare." —

Then i;p she rose, put on her clothes,
And keekit through at the lock -hole —

" O ! by my sooth," then cried the lass,

" Our mare has gotten a braw brown foal !" —

" Come baud thy tongue, thou silly wench !

The morn's but glancing- in your ee." —
" I'll wad my hail fee^ against a groat,

Now all this while in merry Carlisle

The Harper harped to hie and law ;
And the fiend dought they do^ but listen him to.

Until that the day began to daw.

But on the morn at fair daylight.
When they had ended a' their cheer,

Behold the Wanton Brown was gane.
And eke the poor blind Harper's mare !

" Allace ! allace ! " quo' the cunning auld Harper,
" And ever allace that I cam here ;

' Nicker and sneer — Neigh and snort ^ Wad my hail fee — Bet

my whole wages. — ^ Fiend dought they do — Nothing could they do.

426 MINSTRELSY OF

In Scotland I hae lost a braw cowt foal,

In Eng-land they've stown my gnde gray mare ! " —

" Come ! cease thy allacing, thou silly blind Harper,
And again of thy harping let us hear ;

And weel payd sail thy cowt-foal be.
And thou sail have a far better mare." —

Then aye he harped, and aye he carped ;

Sae sweet were the harpings he let them hear !
He was paid for the foal he had never lost.

And three times ower for the gude Gray Mare.^

' The only remark wliich offers itself on the foregoing baillad
seems to be, that it is the most modern in which the harp, as a
Border instrument of music, is found to occur.

I cannot dismiss the subject of Lochmaben, without noticing an
extraordinary and anomalous class of landed proprietors, who dwell
in the neighbourhood of that burgh. These are the inhabitants of
four small villages, near the ancient castle, called the Four Towns
of Lochmaben. They themselves are termed the King's RentaUers,
or kindly tenants ; under which denomination each of them has a
right, of an allodld nature, to a small piece of ground. It is said,
tliat these people are the descendants of Robert Bruce's menials, to
whom he assigned, in reward of their faithful service, these portions
of land, burdened only with the payment of certain quit-rents, and
grassums, or fines, upon the entry of a new tenant. The right of
the rentallers is, in essence, a right of property, but, in form, only
a right of lease ; of which they appeal for the foundation to tho
rent-rolls of the lord of the castle and manor. This possession, by
rental, or by simple entry upon the rent-roll, was anciently a com-
mon, and peculiarly sacred, s])ecics of property, granted by a chief
to his faithful followers ; the connexion of landlord and tenant being

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 427

esteemed of a nature too necessary to be formal, where there was
honour on the one side, and gratitude upon the other. But, in the
case of subjects granting a right of this kind, it was held to expire
with the Hfe of the granter, unless his heir chose to renew it ; and
also upon the death of the rentaUer himself, unless especially granted
to his heirs, by which term only his first heir was understood.
Hence, in modern days, the kindly tenants have entirely disap-
peared from the land. Fortunately for the inhabitants of the Four
Towns of Lochmaben, the maxim, that the king can never die,
prevents their right of property from reverting to the crown. The
Viscount of Stormonth, as royal keeper of the castle, did, indeed,
about the beginning of last century, make an attempt to remove the
rentallers from their possessions, or at least to procure judgment,
finding them obliged to take out feudal investitures, and subject
themselves to the casualties thereto annexed. But the rentallers
united in their common defence : and, having stated their imme-
morial possession, together with some favourable clauses in certain
old acts of Parliament, enacting, that the King's poor kindly te-
nants of Lochmaben should not be hurt, they finally prevailed in an
action before the Court of Session. From the peculiar state o
their right of property, it follows, that there is no occasion for feu-
dal investitures, or the formal entry of an heir ; and, of course,
when they choose to convey their lands, it is done by a simple deed
of conveyance, without charter or sasine.

The kindly tenants of Lochmaben live (or at least lived till
lately) much sequestered from their neighbours, marry among them-
selves, and are distinguished from each other by soubriquets, ac-
cording to the ancient Border custom, repeatedly noticed. You
meet among their writings, with such names as Johyi Out-bye, Will
In-bye, White-fish, Red-fish, &c. They are tenaciously obsti-
nate Ln defence of their privileges of commonty, &c. which are nu-
merous. Their lands are, in general, neatly enclosed, and well
cultivated, and they form a contented and industrious little com-
munity.

Many of these particulars are extracted from the MSS. of Mr
Syme, writer to the signet. Those who are desirous of more in-
formation, may consult Craig de Feudis, lib. ii. dig. 9. sec. 24.

428 MINSTRELSY OF THE SCOTTISH BORDER.

It is hoped the reader will excuse this digression, though somewhat
professional ; especially as there can be but little doubt that this
diminutive republic must soon share the fate of mightier states ;
for, in consequence of the increase of commerce, lands possessed
under this singular tenure, being now often brought to sale, and
purchased by the neighbouring proprietors, will, in process of time,
be included in their investitures, and the right of rentallage be en-
tirely forgotten.

END OF VOLUME FIRST.

I'RINTKU 1!V HAM.ANTVNK AND CO., I'AILS ^^OHK, EPINBl IKi If.